Ollie
by Vol lady
Summary: Audra befriends a little boy traveling to the orphanage at Stockton, and when their train derails and they are injured, the Barkleys take the little boy in until he's well enough to go to the orphanage. They discover that injuries and being an orphan are the least of his problems.
1. Chapter 1

Ollie

Chapter 1

Prologue

"Mr. Barkley – "

His secretary opened his door slightly and looked in. Jarrod Barkley was working on a motion before the California appeals court, but he looked up at the sound of her voice. Emily would not interrupt him if it were not important.

"Yes?"

"Someone to see you. He doesn't have an appointment but he says you know him and it's urgent."

"Who?"

The man moved in far enough that Jarrod could see him and said, "I'm sorry, but it is urgent."

Jarrod put his pen down and rubbed his eyes. This was one man he did not want to see, ever again. "Macklin, I don't – "

Macklin pushed by Emily and came in. "It's very urgent. I'm sorry."

Jarrod waved him all the way in, and Emily left, closing the door behind her.

Jarrod motioned Macklin to sit down and said flatly, "I won't do it."

"I can understand why you'd say that," Macklin said, "but please read at least this summary page before you say anything else." Macklin took a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his jacket.

Jarrod took it and started to read it, saying in as unhappy a voice as he could muster, "I don't think there's anything that would change – "

He stopped as he read and understood. He read more, and he looked up, astonished. "This can't be true."

"I'm afraid it is," Macklin said.

Jarrod put the paper down, then picked it up again and read some more, then put the paper down again. His mouth was opened for a few moments before he said, "Even if it is, why are you coming to me with it? Surely you have people to handle this."

"We want you because of your help on the Alderson case, your legal background, your intelligence work during the war, and the fact that you are local. This problem comes out of San Francisco."

Jarrod shook his head. "You know what working with you did to me the last time."

"I know," Macklin said, sincerely, "and I hope you believe me when I say that none of this is my idea. I have my orders to come to you, and I opposed them, but to no avail. I have my orders."

Jarrod glared at him. "And if I refuse?"

Macklin took a deep breath. "This isn't anything I want to say either, but again, I have my orders. If you decline, I am instructed to tell you that certain criminal charges will be brought against you – "

"What criminal charges?!" Jarrod cut him off, starting up out of his chair, just about ready to grab him.

"Assault," Macklin said. "Assault with intent to kill. Attempted murder. Bribing an elected official – "

Jarrod sat back down. Of course. "Rimfire."

"Rimfire," Macklin said. "Nobody is sorrier about this than I am, Jarrod. I tried to resign my position, but frankly, they had me over a barrel, too. I wasn't permitted to resign, any more than you're going to be permitted to refuse this job. If it's any consolation, we will pay you this time."

Jarrod threw the paper at him.

Macklin caught it, produced more papers from his inner coat pocket, and put them back in front of Jarrod. "Read this full briefing. You might actually want to help us."

Jarrod picked the papers up, looking doubtful, and Macklin waited patiently while Jarrod read the four full pages. Jarrod looked up. "Is this for real?"

"I'm sorry to say it is. We really need your help, Jarrod."

"Just what is it you want me to do?"

"It's going to entail some intelligence gathering, like you did during the war."

Intelligence gathering. The polite words for spying, for pretending to be someone you're not and doing things you might not otherwise do. "Just how am I supposed to do that with a face that's been in the papers a lot around here?"

"Don't shave or get a haircut. You should have enough of a change in a week to ten days that you won't be recognizable. You'll wear glasses. We'll put a little gray in your beard if it doesn't come naturally."

 _Gray? Come naturally?_ Jarrod thought they were trying to insult him now.

Macklin said, "In some ways this is even more important than the Alderson case was, believe me. A lot of people have been torn apart by this ring. And your family won't be involved in any way. They won't even know you're involved."

Jarrod felt an uncomfortable itch. "This is gonna take time. What am I supposed to tell them I'm doing?"

"Write them telling them you're going to Washington on an important case and you will be out of touch for quite a while."

Jarrod blurted out a laugh. "Come on, Macklin. How am I supposed to get away with being 'out of touch for quite a while'?"

"Just tell them it's important and because of attorney client privilege you can't tell them any more. You're a high profile lawyer. They'll understand."

"You didn't learn much about my family the last time, did you?"

"Like I said, none of this is my idea, and I'm as trapped in it as you are. The only thing I can say is that every word in the report has been verified, and we have to stop this. It's already devastated a lot of people. It IS an important case and you can't tell anyone about it or what you're doing. Secrecy is too important."

Jarrod handed the papers back. He couldn't argue with how devastating this had to be to a lot of people, but he couldn't help thinking the government had its own people to handle it. He wasn't needed, not really. "You aren't really sending me to Washington, are you?"

"No. You'll stay here in California, mostly around Sacramento and here in San Francisco."

Jarrod still wanted nothing to do with this – but then he thought of the people who had been affected by it, and of course, they had those criminal charges they could file against him. "Even if what you're trying to do is good and necessary, you are a rotten bunch of vermin, you know that?"

Macklin nodded. "I know."

"Emily!" Jarrod called.

Emily came in.

Jarrod said, "Emily, I want you to forget you ever saw this man here or anywhere else with me. I need to go to Washington for a while. I'll be out of touch. Talk to Adam Newhouse about taking over my cases."

"What do you want me to tell your family?" Emily asked.

"I'll write to them. Send them a wire that I need to go to Washington and a letter is coming explaining things."

Emily nodded, gave Macklin an unhappy look, and went back out.

Jarrod got up and grabbed his hat from the hat tree behind his desk. "I'll need to stop by my house and collect a few personal items. You want to come along and make sure they're permitted?"

Jarrod said the latter with a sneer. Macklin stood up, nodding. "You won't need much. We'll see you have what you need, from clothes to identification papers."

Jarrod understood. Jarrod Barkley was to disappear for a while. He would be someone else for the duration. "You people stink," he said and led the way out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

One Month Later

" _Once upon a time, in a land called California, there was a beautiful princess named Audra. She had long golden hair and a smile to rival the sunshine."_

" _What does 'rival' mean?" Audra asked._

" _It means your smile was almost as bright as the sunshine, but nothing is really as bright as the sunshine – not even that smile of yours," Nick said._

 _Nick was 16; Audra was 6. Nick wasn't really all that keen on reading bedtime stories to his younger sister – especially when he'd rather be out on the range with the cattle, or downstairs with his parents, discussing ranch business. He thought he needed to be learning more about the ranch, because someday, he'd need to help run it, and he wasn't learning it up here._

 _But, big brother Jarrod was off at the war, so the bedtime story duty fell to him. Eugene, age 4, had already rolled over and fallen asleep – princess stories were not his cup of tea. But Audra was listening closely, especially since the story was about her. And her smile really did rival the sunshine. Nick liked seeing it._

He liked it so much that 15 years later, when he was roused from the nap he had slipped into while on the back of his horse, he was still smiling at the memory.

"Come on, Nick, wake up," Heath said.

Nick opened his eyes. The sunshine was still there, even if Audra's smile wasn't. And the cattle were all there again, too.

Nick sighed, "You know, I wish that sister of ours would come home from all those travels back east. She brightens up the ranch."

Heath chuckled. "What made you think of that?"

"Remembering how I used to tell her bedtime stories when she was little," Nick said. "She loved it – as long as I was making up a story about Princess Audra."

Heath laughed more. "Well, I hope you can hold off a bit longer. It's still three more days before she's due in on the train."

"You know trains. Three days will turn into four."

"Well, it'll be soon. Mother's already planning the party."

"I'm sorry Jarrod won't be here," Nick mused. "And with you and me leaving on a drive in a week or so…"

"Well," Heath said with a sigh, "if we don't get these critters all together, we won't be taking them to Modesto and we won't be getting gone on a drive. Come on!"

They went back to work, their minds back on the chore at hand, memories of a 6-year-old Audra retreating for Nick as the ugliest cows in California kept turning to stare at him. He sighed to think that once upon a time, he preferred their company to his siblings'.

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath tossed a coin, and it was Nick who went with his mother to pick up his sister at the train depot, while Heath worked with the ranch hands to finalize getting the herd ready to move to Modesto. As Nick helped his mother out of the surrey at the depot, Victoria looked up to see people milling about the platform, but no train.

"Oh, I wonder how late it's really running," Victoria said.

"Knowing the Coastal and Western, we probably should have planned to come tomorrow instead of today," Nick asked.

"It better not be that bad," Victoria said.

Nick escorted his mother to the platform, then ducked into the office to see how bad the delay really was. He came out with a very unhappy face. "Bad news."

"How bad?" Victoria asked.

"It'll be here in half an hour or so."

Victoria swatted him, and he laughed. Then the two of them sat down on a bench there by the building.

"How much extra luggage do you think she'll come home with?" Nick pondered.

"With your sister, who knows?" Victoria asked. "She does favor those eastern fashions."

"You know, one of these days she's liable to come home with a husband."

"God forbid," Victoria said. "But I don't think she's likely to do that when she knows Carl Wheeler is still here and available."

"I know you really have an interest in seeing those two get together, but I just don't know if it's meant to be."

"Why not?"

"I'm just not sure Audra's gonna want to settle for a rancher. She's always liked her boyfriends to be a little more sophisticated and educated and like that."

"True, but you know what they say. Boys usually end up marrying their mothers, and girls end up marrying their fathers. And your father was a rancher."

Nick grunted a bit. "I suppose one day soon we'll be finding out what kind of husband Princess Audra really fancies."

"Come on, now, Nick. She's not that much of a princess."

"Oh, I didn't mean now. The other day I was remembering when Jarrod was off at the war and it was my job to make up the bedtime stories. I made up a lot of Princess Audra stories."

Victoria chuckled. "Like what?"

"Like Princess Audra trapped in the tower until she let down her hair so the handsome prince – that was me – could climb up."

Victoria laughed more. "That was 'Repunzel,' Nick."

Nick shrugged. "I never said my stories were original."

They kept chatting, and the extra half hour the train was taking to get there disappeared. But the train still didn't appear. "They probably held it in Sacramento because the train from the east was late," Victoria suggested.

When another half hour went by, Nick went back into the office. "What's going on?" he asked Chad, the station manager. "Where's the train from Sacramento?"

Chad shrugged. "I'm sorry, Nick. The last information I had put it in here half an hour ago."

"Can't you wire Sacramento?"

"I've tried. Nothing's going through. My guess is the lines are down."

"Where was the last stop you have confirmed?"

"Lodi, an hour ago. My guess is there's some kind of trouble on the wire between here and there. Maybe some kind of trouble on the track, too. Landslide, maybe."

Nick didn't like the sound of any of that. He grumbled as he went outside, thinking about what to do. When Victoria saw him, she didn't like the look of him at all. "What? What is it?" she asked.

"Chad in there heard from Lodi half an hour ago, but now he can't get through. Telegraph wires are down."

"Do you think we should talk to the sheriff?"

Nick gave it a thought. "Why don't you run over there and do that? I'm gonna go get a horse from the livery and ride up the line toward Lodi."

"You shouldn't go alone, Nick."

"I'm sure it's nothing more than a landslide blocking the track and tearing down the wires between here and Lodi, or something like that. Tell Fred to come after me, and we'll have this all cleared up in a few hours. After you talk to Fred, you head on home."

"Home is not where I want to be."

"I know, but it's the best place for you."

"No, I'm getting a room at the hotel. That way I'll be here when you find out what's happened. I won't be an hour away."

"All right," Nick caved in. "You go on and see Fred. I'll see you in a few hours."

Victoria headed straight for the sheriff's office while Nick jogged off to the livery. Sheriff Madden was posting new wanted posters when Victoria came in. He wasn't expecting her and was surprised when he looked over his shoulder. "Victoria! What brings you here?"

"Nick and I were just at the train depot to pick Audra up from the Sacramento train," Victoria said. "The train is an hour overdue and the last stop Chad has verified was Lodi. The telegraph wires are down and he can't reach them now. Nick has gotten a horse and is riding up the line, but I think you should go, too."

"Oh, it's probably nothing, Victoria," the sheriff said. "Nick will see what the problem is and be back before you know it."

"Fred, please," Victoria asked. "The train not here, no telegraph working – please go check it out."

The sheriff sighed. Audra had been gone for several weeks, and now Victoria didn't know what was happening with her daughter – "All right, I'll head right on up there. Is Nick riding the track?"

"Yes."

Sheriff Madden grabbed his holster and strapped it on. "Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this in a hurry."

"I'm going to the hotel," Victoria said as they left. "Please let me know when you get back."

Sheriff Madden nodded. "I'll do that. You just take it easy. I'm sure there's nothing wrong other than some kind of maintenance issue. You know how trains are."

"But the telegraph wires – "

"They have problems too, especially if there's a landslide or something. You just go sit tight. We'll be back before you know it."

The sheriff mounted up and took off. Victoria watched, trying hard not to worry – it was a train, for heaven's sake, they don't just vanish - but she worried anyway. Trying to get herself together, she headed for the hotel.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nick took things at an easy gallop, riding beside and down lower than the train tracks where he could, taking his horse up onto the track where a fence down below got in his way. He was hoping like crazy that he'd find the train only a few miles away, stopped with nothing more than cattle on the track. He knew the train had to be between Stockton and Lodi. There was simply no place else it could be.

He found it about ten miles out. It was a landslide, all right, tons of rock lying on the track and the poles carrying the telegraph line were down. But it wasn't a simple landslide. The slide had caught the train smack dab in the middle, shoving a lot of it right off the track.

Terrified, Nick moved faster. He saw people, lots of people – some on foot milling around, some trying to get into the smashed cars, some injured lying on the ground and being tended by others. Some of the people saw Nick and waved him to them. He saw tears and heard shrieking.

He did not see Audra.

Nick got as close to the damage area as he could before finding a fence post to tether his horse to. Once Coco was secure, Nick ran to where he saw the most people. They were not far away from one of the toppled cars. The injured were lying everywhere, but still he saw no Audra.

"We need help!" a man on the side of a toppled car yelled.

Nick hurried to the man and the toppled car, yelling, "The Stockton sheriff is coming!"

Nick climbed up on the car, getting himself stable as the man who had called to him pulled a child out of the car and handed the little boy down. Nick took him and handed him off to another man who got the boy to someone waiting on the ground. Nick saw someone in the car was trying to help people out.

"How many cars are derailed?" Nick asked.

"Two, to my count," another man beside him said. "It wasn't a big slide, but it was big enough, and it was smack at the wrong time."

"My sister is on this train," Nick yelled as he continued to help move people out and away from the damaged car. "Have you seen a young woman with long blonde hair?"

Nick heard someone inside the rail car call his name, and a man poked his head out of a broken window. "Nick! Nick Barkley!"

Nick turned and saw a man he knew, the manager of one of the freight companies he had done business with over the years. "Hiram!" Nick yelled. "Are you hurt?"

"Just banged up," Hiram said. "Your sister is in here."

"Is she hurt?"

"Yes, but I don't know how bad. She's taken a knock on the head. We'll have her out as soon as we get this family out – two more kids to go."

Nick was both relieved and scared. At least Audra was here, but she was hurt. The first thing Nick thought was, _We don't need this._ The second thing he thought was, _Don't worry. It'll be all right. She'll be out in a moment and she'll be all right._

Nick suddenly heard Sheriff Madden's voice, but he couldn't see the man. He heard someone explaining what had happened, and then he heard the sheriff call his name. "Nick?!"

"Up here on the rail car!" Nick yelled and helped pass off another child from out of the car.

"I'm going back for help!" the sheriff yelled. "Do what you can here!"

"Yeah," Nick said, and he assumed the sheriff went back to Stockton. He helped another child out of the car, and then, someone handed Audra to him.

She was limp, and her face was covered with blood. _Oh, God,_ Nick thought. He held her too long.

"Let me have her!" a man below him who had been helping to get the injured away from the car yelled to him.

Nick never wanted to let go of her less in his life, but he kissed her cheek and handed her off to the man who called to him. The man took her away. Nick felt himself begin to shake all over. He wanted to be with his sister, but he wanted to help get people out of this rail car. He heard a child crying inside the car as someone pulled him out.

 _If Audra were awake, she'd be here helping to get these children out. I have to help get these children out._

Nick continued to help until everyone was out of the rail car. Then he climbed down and tried to see where they had taken Audra, but he couldn't. He hesitated only a moment before he went back to the next car.

Thank heaven, everyone who wasn't injured had helped to get all of the injured out and away from the train wreck. There were no more people to get out, but there were a lot of injured people – mostly head injuries, but Nick saw a few broken limbs, too, and a lot of crying children.

Nick turned around and went back toward the front of the train and the rail car they had pulled Audra out of, to try to find her. It took too long, and when he finally found her he realized he had passed her twice. She was on the ground, down away from the tracks and a good hundred feet ahead of the train engine that was upright and still running. There was a woman Nick did not know with her.

Nick bent beside her as fast as he could. "Audra?"

She didn't respond at all.

"She has a nasty bump on the head," the woman said, and Nick noticed she was holding a bloody handkerchief that she had presumably used to clean the blood from Audra's face. "Do you know her?"

"My sister," Nick said.

Audra groaned.

"Audra?" Nick said. "Audra, honey, can you year me?"

Audra still just groaned.

"It's Nick. I'm here. You're gonna be all right."

Audra still did not open her eyes or indicate that she heard Nick at all, but she said, "Olllie."

Nick was confused. Who was Ollie?

"Little boy sitting next to her on the train," the woman said and dabbed at the wound on Audra's temple again. "I don't know where he is."

"Who was he with?" Nick asked.

"No one," the woman said. "He was on his own – had a note pinned to his jacket. Your sister kind of took care of him, once she saw he was alone."

"Ollie," Audra said again and began to be agitated.

"I'll find him, Audra," Nick said. "Don't worry, I'll find him." Then to the woman he asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Just a bruise or two," the woman said. "You look for the boy. I'll look after your sister."

Nick smiled and squeezed her hand, more grateful than he could ever express. Then he started looking for a little boy with a note pinned to his jacket.

XXXXXXX

Sheriff Madden reached Stockton and immediately went to the nearest saloon for help. As soon as he explained there had been a train wreck up toward Lodi, men started heading for their horses and wagons. There were two doctors in town, and two men said they would get them and take them up to the train. Rescue was in motion.

Sheriff Madden was almost reluctant to do it, but he hurried to the hotel and found Victoria Barkley's room. She answered right away when he knocked on her door. All he could say was, "There's been a train wreck. Landslide got it. Nick is up there helping."

"Did you see Audra?"

"No, but Nick's probably found her by now. I've already got help and the doctors are on the way."

Victoria grabbed her hat and jacket. "I'm going back with you. I'll have to get a horse from the livery."

"Maybe you'd rather send for Heath."

Victoria shook her head. "He can't be much more help."

"All right, let's go."

XXXXXXXX

Nick found a little boy with a note pinned to his jacket, not far from where Audra lay. The note said, _Ollie, Stockton Orphanage,_ and that was all it said.

The boy didn't look to be more than six or seven years old. He was now in the care of an older woman who looked to be uninjured, but she had tears in her eyes as she cradled the unconscious child. "He's got a bad knot on his head," she said. "I was in one of the cars that didn't run off the tracks."

"You're all right?" Nick asked.

The woman nodded. "This little fellow isn't, though. I can't wake him up."

Nick nodded. "The sheriff went for help. We'll have a doctor or two here before long. Just keep him warm and keep telling him he's safe."

The woman nodded.

Nick went back to where Audra and the woman caring for her lay in the dirt down below the tracks. Audra was moving around now, reaching for the wound on her forehead. Nick rushed to kneel beside her. "Hey, there, Princess Audra. How are you doing?"

Audra looked up at him, but it took her a moment to recognize him and reach for him. "Nick – there was a little boy – "

Nick nodded. "Ollie. I know."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

" _Ollie, I know," Nick said._

Audra grasped his arm as tight as she could. "Did you find him?"

Nick nodded. "He has a bump on the head, like you. A woman who was in one of the cars that wasn't damaged is taking care of him."

"Oh, Nick, he's all alone. He was on his way to the orphanage, and I sat next to him and told him how wonderful things were going to be when he got to Stockton – "

Audra began to cry. She held her head because crying made it hurt even more.

Nick tried to pull her hand down gently. "Don't touch it, Audra. You've got a cut and you don't want it to get infected. Try not to worry about Ollie. He's being looked after."

"Oh, Mother's going to be so worried," Audra moaned.

"Mother will be fine as soon as she knows you are. The sheriff has gone for more help and for the doctors. We'll have you back in Stockton in a few hours."

"Is Heath with you?"

"No, he's getting the herd ready to drive to Modesto. He doesn't know about any of this. You'll be home and safe before he even knows anything happened."

"Jarrod?"

"No, honey, Jarrod's not at home either."

Audra sagged into Nick's arms. The woman who had been tending her smiled at Nick, trying to be reassuring. Audra couldn't stop crying.

"Don't worry," Nick said gently. "Everything's going to be all right."

Nick took his jacket off and put it around his sister's shoulders. There was a chill in autumn air. He took the handkerchief from the woman and held it against the wound in Audra's temple, trying to stop the bleeding. It was almost stopped as it was, but Nick felt like he had to be doing something.

But all they could really do now was wait.

XXXXXXX

It felt like forever before Nick saw the first men on horseback arrive. They immediately dove in to help where they could, and but it was still some time before wagons came rumbling along the tracks. It would have been much harder to get a wagon out here, but somehow several men made it. And then, Nick saw the sheriff again, and his mother.

Nick waved and Victoria spotted him right away. She tied her horse off next to Coco and came running.

"Oh, Mother – " Audra cried and reached.

Victoria got down beside her. "It's all right, it's all right."

"Oh, Mother, I'm all right but so many people aren't. It was so terrible – "

Nick got up and went to see about Ollie while Victoria was comforting Audra. When he found the boy again, he was awake now and not crying, just watching things as the woman held him. She was still crying enough for both of them.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Nick asked her.

She nodded.

Then he said to the boy, "Hi, Ollie – my name is Nick. Do you remember sitting with Audra?"

The boy nodded absently.

"Would you like me to take you to her?"

Ollie nodded again, and the woman holding him finally smiled in relief. Nick took the boy into his arms, saying a quiet "Thank you," to the woman for tending to him.

She nodded back and wiped her face, then got up to see who else she could help.

Nick carried Ollie back to where Audra sat in her mother's arms. "Look who I found," he said with a smile.

"Ollie!" Audra said and gratefully let Nick put him into her arms. "Look at you! You have a bump on your head like I do!"

Ollie just nodded.

Audra held him and hugged him. "This is my mother and my brother. We're going to be all right now, Ollie, both you and me."

Ollie nodded again.

Nick looked at his mother. She was crying but wiped the tears off her face.

XXXXXXX

Since wagons were scarce and Audra and Ollie could sit a horse, Nick took Audra in front of him on Coco and Victoria took Ollie in front of her, after the doctor gave them a quick examination and told them it was safe to get them to the ranch. The sun was going down as they got to the house, and Heath was inside, wandering around and looking very nervous. When they all came in the door, Heath looked like he was going to collapse from relief.

"Where have you been? What happened?" he asked even before he realized Audra was hurt and they had an injured little boy with them.

"Heath, would you get our medical supplies?" Victoria asked. "We have some hopefully minor injuries to see to."

Heath quickly went off to the kitchen.

"Let's get you two into the living room and see if we can fix you up before we put you to bed," Victoria said.

Victoria walked Audra in, while Nick carried Olllie. Audra sat on the sofa, and Nick gave Ollie to her. He crawled into her lap, and she held him. "This is where I live, Ollie," she said, noticing the boy looking around everywhere.

They were all concerned about Ollie. He hadn't said a word or even made a sound since they found him after the train wreck.

Heath came in with the medical supplies they kept in an old cigar box. He gave it to Victoria, and moving next to Nick, asked again, quietly, "What happened?"

"Train wreck, about ten miles out of town," Nick said. "Lots of people hurt out there, maybe some dead, I don't know. Sheriff and the doctors are out there."

Heath sighed.

"I'm all right," Audra said. "Ollie is too, now, aren't you Ollie?"

Ollie nodded but still didn't say a word. He didn't cry or even whimper as Victoria cleaned the wound on the left side of his head. "There," Victoria said. "That's not so bad. It's nice and clean for when the doctor comes to take a look."

Victoria then turned her attentions to Audra, who also turned stoic as her mother cleaned her head wound.

"Audra, are you hurt anywhere else?" Victoria asked.

"My side, when I hit one of the seats, but it's not bad," Audra said.

"I'll look at it when we get you up to bed. Ollie, do you hurt anywhere else other than your head?"

Ollie shook his head.

Victoria looked up at Nick and Heath, and Nick got the message. He reached down and lifted Ollie up out of Audra's arms. "Tell you what, Ollie," Nick said. "We men should stick together and let the ladies get ready for bed. What do you say my brother Heath here and I help you get ready for bed and you can stay here with us tonight?"

Ollie allowed himself to be taken from Audra, but he kept his eyes on her until she smiled. "It's all right, Ollie," she said. "I'll be nearby if you need me, but Nick is a really good bedtime story teller. You'll sleep much better if you let him tell you a story, and tomorrow morning we'll have a big breakfast with flapjacks and everything. Would you like that?"

Ollie nodded.

Nick turned and took Ollie upstairs, but Heath stayed with Victoria and Audra as Victoria finished cleaning Audra's head wound. "Looks like you got pretty lucky, Sis," he said.

"I know," Audra said. "Our car was knocked on its side. I caught Ollie at first, but then I hit my head and lost him. Everything was a jumbled mess until somebody pulled me out."

"I don't think this is even going to require any stitches, but we'll let the doctor decide that," Victoria said. She put all the medical supplies back in the cigar box and handed it to Heath. "Will you put this away?"

Heath said, "You wait until I get back before you try to get up, Audra."

Audra nodded, and they waited, but it was Silas who came in from the kitchen before Heath did. "Oh, my, Miss Audra, are you all right?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, Silas," Audra said. "Really."

Victoria said, "We'll be having a little houseguest overnight, Silas. Flapjacks for breakfast would be a good idea."

"Yes, ma'am," Silas said. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"Will you bring some food up to Audra's room in about an hour?" Victoria said. "Something not too hard on the stomach."

"Yes, ma'am," Silas said and went back into the kitchen.

It was a little while before Heath came in. He was carrying several sandwiches. "Silas is fixing some dinner for you two. I think Nick and Ollie could stand a bit to eat, and so could I, so I put these together," he said, and as Victoria and Audra stood up, he asked, "Did a doctor look at you?"

"A quick look," Victoria said. "He didn't think either Audra or Ollie had a concussion. It'll be safe to let Ollie fall asleep."

Heath helped his mother and sister up to Audra's room, and then he left them alone and joined Nick and Ollie. When he got to the guest room where Nick had gone, he was startled to find Nick and Ollie both laughing.

Ollie was standing on the bed, dressed now in one of Nick's shirts. The shirt reached down past the boy's feet, and the sleeves were about twice as long as his arms.

"Nick, what the heck kind of night shirt is that?" Heath asked.

"The only one I could come up with for a little guy like this," Nick said and rolled up the sleeves.

"He needs a bath."

"I cleaned him up real good. The bath can wait until morning. And I think he looks downright handsome in my shirt."

Ollie laughed again. But he still had not said a word.

"You two should eat a little bit," Heath said and handed Nick a sandwich.

Nick took it and broke it in half. He handed the smaller part to Ollie, who took it and began to gobble it down. Nick grinned. "Boy after my own heart."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Victoria looked at the place on Audra's side where she said she thought she'd hurt it on one of the seats when the rail car turned over. It bore a nasty bruise, about the size of a saucer. "We'll have the doctor take a look at that," Victoria said. "You might have cracked a rib, so be careful with it."

Audra touched it. "I don't think anything's broken, just bruised." Audra carefully put her nightgown on and then lay back on her bed. "Mother, I'm worried about Ollie. He was talking just fine before the crash, but he hasn't said a word since."

"He's had a very traumatic day," Victoria said. "Adults can understand and cope with things like this, but a little boy, alone in the world – I'm not surprised he hasn't spoken. You said he was traveling to the orphanage here?"

Audra nodded. "I know once he gets there he'll be all right."

"It might take some time. I think the best thing is to just take care of him and let him sort this all out on his own. How old is he, Audra, do you know?"

"He said he was six. I don't know how he was orphaned or who is sending him to the orphanage. He didn't know that or didn't want to talk about it."

"Well, we'll fuss over him tonight and in the morning, and we'll ask the doctor whether it's safe to take him to the orphanage. I wouldn't worry, Audra. I'm sure he'll be all right."

Meanwhile, Nick and Heath were letting Ollie eat another half of sandwich. Heath went back downstairs and got some milk for him, and before very long Ollie was fed and was beginning to get sleepy. They tucked him in, and Nick began to make up a story for him.

"Once upon a time, there was a little prince in a kingdom far away. The little prince had fallen down and hit his head, and afterward he stopped talking. The king and the queen and his friends the princess and other princes were very worried about him, but a wise wizard told them not to be afraid. He waved his magic wand over the little prince and told him to go to sleep, and in the morning he would be talking again."

By the time Nick got to the part about the wizard, Ollie's eyes had drifted closed. When he finished the story, Heath smiled at him. "I hope our little prince is talking in the morning, too. You're pretty good at that, Nick."

Nick stood up from where he'd been sitting on the edge of the bed. "When Audra and Gene were little and Jarrod was away at the war and I made up stories to tell them to get them to sleep. If there was something they were worried about, I'd weave it into the story, and they usually felt better in the morning."

"I think we better stay with him overnight," Heath said. "Don't want him waking up and being alone."

"Good idea," Nick said. "I'll take the first watch. Come spell me at about two."

Heath nodded. "All right. You need anything more now? A drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Nick said and pulled a chair close to the bed. "Cute little devil, isn't he?"

Heath chuckled quietly. "You know, you need to get you married and start having kids."

"Yeah," Nick said. "One of these days."

XXXXXXX

Come morning, Nick got himself together and then went back to Ollie's room. Heath was awake, reading a book, but Ollie was still asleep.

Heath heard Nick come in and got up. "He had a bad dream a little while ago, but I gave him a big hug and he went back to sleep."

"Did he say anything?" Nick asked.

"No, just cried. I was thinking we'd give him a bath before we get him dressed."

"Why don't you go get the water in the tub, and I'll get him awake and bring him in. I don't know how he's gonna like taking a bath."

"Well, we'll find out." Heath smiled and went out of the room.

Nick took a look at Ollie's clothes and shook them out good. He wished there were another pair of undershorts for the boy, but he knew they didn't have a size small enough around here. Nick took a shot at rubbing the underwear at least a little cleaner, using a towel.

Nick heard the door open and Silas peeked in. "Good mornin', Mr. Nick. How's our little houseguest this mornin'?

"Good morning, Silas. I'm about to start waking him up, and Heath and I are gonna give him a bath. We wouldn't have any underwear his size around here, would we?" Nick asked.

"'Fraid not," Silas said. "You boys got big a long time ago."

"Well, we'll make do for now. We won't be down for breakfast for another hour."

"That's fine," Silas said. "Your mother and Miss Audra are moving slow this mornin' too. Yesterday kinda wore everybody out."

"I don't suppose we've heard from the doctor."

"No, sir, but if he comes in before you're ready, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, Silas. Flapjacks?"

Silas smiled. "Flapjacks."

Nick smiled as Silas left. He didn't even notice Ollie was awake until he actually spoke, and said, "Flapjacks?"

Nick went over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Silas makes the best flapjacks in the whole world."

Ollie rubbed his eyes. "Is this the orphanage?" he asked.

"No," Nick said. "Do you remember Miss Audra, the lady you sat next to on the train?"

Ollie nodded.

"Well, she's my sister," Nick said, "and this is the house where we live. The orphanage is not very far away, and Miss Audra likes to visit and play with all the children who live there, so you'll be seeing a lot of her while you live there."

Ollie said, "She doesn't have any little children?"

"No, not yet."

Ollie said, "Someday."

"Someday," Nick agreed. "Now, you need a bath, little man. Are you up to that?"

Surprisingly, Ollie didn't object. He just nodded, and Nick lifted him up out of the bed. "Okay. Mr. Heath and I – we're both Miss Audra's brothers – we're gonna give you a bath and get you dressed and then there will be flapjacks, okay?"

"Okay," Ollie said.

XXXXXXX

Ollie's bath went remarkably easy. Nick and Heath both took care of bathing, and Nick got him dressed while Heath got himself together for the day. In about an hour, they were all coming downstairs together, Nick and Heath each holding one of Ollie's hands as they came down the stairs. Victoria and Audra were in the living room waiting for them, and they came to the bottom of the stairs as the men came down.

Audra smiled the biggest. "Good morning, Ollie," she said.

And she was nearly in tears when Ollie simply said, "Good morning, Miss Audra."

Victoria laughed. "Well, seems like our little guest has found his voice again."

"I didn't really lose it," Ollie said. "I just couldn't figure out how to work it for a while."

Everyone smiled. Audra said, "Are you ready for flapjacks, Ollie?"

"Boy howdy, I am," Heath said quickly.

Ollie gave him a look, and then said, "Boy howdy, I am too."

Everyone laughed happily at that. No one, no one at all, had ever picked up Heath's affectation before. Heath was the most tickled. He swung Ollie up into his arms and they all went into the dining room together.

Silas was beginning to get the food on the table as they arrived. Heath put Ollie into a chair next to Audra's as Silas set a glass of milk at that place.

"Thank you, Mr. Silas," Ollie said.

Silas looked surprised. "I didn't know you knew my name, Mr. Ollie."

"I heard Mr. Nick say your name," Ollie said.

Silas said, "You are about the most polite little boy I ever met."

"Thank you, Mr. Silas," Ollie said, and smiles went all around.

The flapjacks went over so well with everyone that Silas had to make a few more than he planned, but in 45 minutes or so, everyone had had their fill. A knock at the front door sent Silas off to answer it, and soon he was back.

"It's Dr. Merar, Mrs. Barkley," Silas said.

"Oh, good, his timing is perfect," Victoria said.

Audra reached for Ollie's hand as everyone got up. "You'll like Dr. Merar, Ollie. He's a very fine doctor and he'll take care of you at the orphanage, too."

Ollie took Audra's hand, but he was slow to get out of his chair. He wore an unhappy face.

"What's the matter, Ollie?" Victoria asked.

"Nothing," Ollie said, and then he got up and followed the family into the living room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dr. Merar was waiting in the foyer when the family came in from the dining room. Seeing both Audra and Ollie on their feet, Dr. Merar broke into a big smile. "Well, what a wonderful sight this is!"

"We had flapjacks!" Ollie announced.

"Did you, now? Were they good?"

"They were very good," Ollie said.

Dr. Merar looked very tired. "Have you been up all night?" Victoria asked.

Dr. Merar just nodded.

"How many?" Victoria asked.

Dr. Merar knew what she was asking. "Thirty-six," he said quietly, "six serious, the rest fairly minor. No fatalities, thank God."

"Have you eaten?"

"I had a sandwich and some coffee about an hour ago. Now, young man," Dr. Merar said to Ollie, "my name is Dr. Merar and I take care of people who have been hurt or sick. And since you've been in a train accident, I'd like to have a look at you to be sure you're all right."

Ollie drew closer to Audra, uneasy.

"He's going to have a look at me, too, Ollie," Audra said.

"Okay," Ollie said then.

Dr. Merar offered his hand and Ollie took it. "Now, we're going to go into the living room with Mr. Nick and Mr. Heath. Miss Audra and Miss Victoria are going to go up to Miss Audra's room and wait for me there. Is that all right?"

"All right," Ollie said.

The women went upstairs while Nick and Heath went with the doctor and Ollie into the living room. The doctor stood Ollie on top of the coffee table and sat down on the settee. "Now, let's have a look at the bump on your head. Ah – that's looking just fine. Does it hurt?"

"A little," Ollie said.

"A little is all right."

"We gave him a bath this morning," Heath said. "He didn't seem to have any other bruises or cuts on him,"

Nick said, "Audra said she grabbed him when the train started to go over. Probably kept him from slamming into anything else."

"Very good," Dr. Merar said. "And he slept all right?"

"We stayed with him," Nick said. "Except for one little nightmare, he slept fine."

"And obviously ate a good breakfast," Heath said.

Dr. Merar smiled at Ollie. "That's very good. Ollie, I think you can go to the orphanage today. There are a lot of other children there waiting for you to play with them, but for today, try not to play too rough, all right?"

Ollie nodded.

Dr. Merar stood up and lifted Ollie down to the floor. "Now, I'm going to go see Miss Audra."

Nick reached his hand down to Ollie. "Tell you what, Ollie. Why don't you go with Mr. Heath and me and see our horses. Remember riding on the horse yesterday?"

Ollie nodded.

"We'll go take the horses some carrots. They like having breakfast, too."

"But not flapjacks?" Ollie said as they headed for the kitchen.

"Not flapjacks," Nick said.

XXXXXXXXX

Dr. Merar looked at the bruise on Audra's side, and he frowned. He poked and palpated, and Audra made uncomfortable noises. He asked about any unusual symptoms Audra might be having, any bleeding or severe pain.

"No, nothing," Audra said. "Just a bit of pain when you pressed on it."

"All right, why don't you get dressed?" the doctor said. "And don't wear anything tight for a week or so. Nothing binding I'll have another look next week and we'll see how things are going."

"Is it all right if I go with Ollie to the orphanage?" Audra asked.

"Of course. He's quite a little guy. What do you know about him?"

"Not very much," Victoria said. "He just had a note pinned on him that his name was Ollie and he was going to the orphanage."

Dr. Merar shook his head. "I don't understand why someone would put him on a train from Sacramento to come to an orphanage here when there are perfectly good orphanages there."

"I don't either," Victoria said. "When we take him into town, I'm going to see if I can find out anything at the train station. I doubt there will be anything, but we have to start somewhere."

"I wonder if the orphanage here is even expecting him," Audra said as she finished dressing. She skipped the corset and opted for a dress that was fitted but not too tight.

"We'll find out today," Victoria said. "If they are, they might have more information about him. We should get him some clothes and other things he might need at the mercantile after we leave him with the nuns."

Audra nodded.

Dr. Merar smiled. "He is a cute little fella, isn't he?

Audra's smile grew. "He's a great little fella."

XXXXXXXX

The whole family took Ollie to the orphanage later that morning, Victoria and Audra in the buggy with him, Nick and Heath on horseback. Victoria sent Nick and Heath to the mercantile with a list of things to get for Ollie, and she and Audra took Ollie to the orphanage.

Ollie had clammed up again and clung to Audra as they went into the orphanage. The children were working on their arithmetic when Victoria, Audra and Ollie came in. Two of the nuns were leading the class, and Sister Theresa was in the back, watching. She saw the Barkleys arrive and quickly got up and ushered them into her office.

"And who is this little man?" was the first thing Sister Theresa said.

"This is Ollie," Audra said. "Ollie and I were in the train accident together yesterday, but we're both just fine now."

"Well, that's awfully good to hear," Sister Theresa said. "We've been expecting you, Ollie, although we didn't know exactly when."

Ollie looked at the nun with big eyes.

Sister Theresa had been stared at that way before, and she smiled. "I am Sister Theresa. I am a nun, a sister who's devoted herself to God and to people who need help. I live and work here with three other nuns, and we take care of the children who live here with us. The sheriff in Sacramento told us you would be coming to live with us, and we are all excited to have you. The children love it when another child comes to stay here."

Audra said, "Would it be all right if Ollie and I joined the class?" She knew her mother wanted to have a talk with the Sister in private.

"I think that would be marvelous," Sister Theresa said. "You go on with Audra, Ollie, and we'll get you settled after class and after lunch, is that all right?"

Ollie looked to Audra. She nodded, so Ollie did too, and the two of them went back to the classroom.

Victoria sighed as they left. "He's a sweet little boy. We took him in because we didn't know how badly he was hurt and he didn't have anyone else. The doctor saw him this morning and he is quite all right except for a bump on the head. He said it was all right to bring him here. I've got Nick and Heath buying him some things he'll need at the mercantile."

Sister Theresa smiled understandingly. "You're worried about him because you don't know anything about him."

"Do you?"

"Just a little bit. The sheriff in Sacramento wired us he was coming. The orphanages there had no room for him."

"Do you know anything about who he is, who his family was, how he ended up being orphaned?"

"No, we don't know very much at all, and neither did the sheriff in Sacramento. Apparently he's just a foundling."

Victoria sighed again, shaking her head. "It's hard to believe someone would just abandon him. He's such a bright little boy."

"It happens all the time, Mrs. Barkley. You know that. Families can't afford to take care of their children and they just leave them where they know someone else will. That's certainly better than letting them starve."

"Of course it is. Ollie just reminds me so much of my boys at that age. I've only known the boy for a day, and he's really gotten to my heart – and to Audra's and Nick's and Heath's and even Silas's. If I were 30 years younger, or if any of my children were married, I think we might be keeping him."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The house seemed so empty when the family got back to the ranch. It was hard for everyone to believe that in one short night and day, a little boy could become so much a part of the thing they all called "home."

"I miss him," Audra said as soon as they got in the door.

Victoria said, "Don't worry. He's in good hands, and you'll see him all the time."

"You're not fooling me, Mother," Nick said. "You miss him too."

Victoria leveled her gaze at all her children. "If you'd get married and start giving me grandchildren, it would help a lot."

Nick and Heath took their hats and gun belts into the hall, where they hung them up. "Not so easy when you're riding herd most of the time," Heath said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

They all moved to the living room then, Nick and Heath heading for the refreshment table where they each poured themselves some whiskey. "Wine, Mother?" Nick asked.

"Yes, merlot, please," Victoria said as she and Audra sat down on the settee.

"For me, too," Audra said.

"You sure you're up to it?" Heath asked. "You just had a bad bang on the head."

"I'm fine," Audra said.

Nick brought them each a glass of wine, and then returned for his whiskey. Heath had already sat down in one of the armchairs. And then a sad quiet hung in the air for several moments.

Then Nick said, "I wonder how Ollie came to be abandoned. I wonder what happened to make his family give him up."

"Poverty, probably," Victoria said, recalling her conversation with Sister Theresa. "Too many mouths to feed. One of them had to go. At least they left him where someone would take care of him."

Heath said, "I think you're saying at least they didn't kill him."

Everyone looked up at him, startled.

Heath looked into his whiskey glass. "It happened more often than I like to remember in the mining camps. Families having one or two babies too many, and no orphanages or other homes for them to go to, so they just disappeared. But everybody knew what happened to them."

"That's horrible!" Audra said.

Heath looked at her. "That's the way life is for a whole lot of people. Poor people."

"How can they? How can good Christian people do such a thing?"

"Necessity, Audra," Heath said sadly. "Deciding what God would want you to do – kill one baby, or watch six others starve. When you're poor, God's a different God."

"It's still unforgivable," Victoria said.

"You can't leave a baby to fend for itself," Nick agreed. "Heath's right. Praise God we never had to make that choice, but a lot of people do. I don't know what I'd do in their shoes."

"Well, thank heaven Ollie's parents didn't make that choice," Audra said.

There came a knock on the door, and Nick went to get it. The sheriff stood there. Nick was surprised, but let him in. "What are you doing here, Fred? You must have left town just a heartbeat after we did."

"I want to talk to you," the sheriff said.

"Come on in."

The sheriff left his hat on a table in the foyer. Heath got up from his chair and went to the refreshment table. "Drink, Fred?" he asked.

"No, thanks, Heath," the sheriff said. "I need to talk to you about Ollie."

"He's at the orphanage now," Victoria said.

"Yes, I know, but I thought you'd want to know about something that's come up," the sheriff said. "I got a wire from the sheriff in Sacramento. Turns out Ollie wasn't abandoned. He was stolen."

"Stolen?!" every other voice in the room said.

Sheriff Madden nodded. "A family nobody knew very well had a little boy. Fits Ollie's description perfectly, and his name is Oliver. The sheriff tracked them down, and they say Ollie was stolen."

"That makes no sense," Victoria said. "Why would anyone steal a child from his parents and then send him off to an orphanage?"

"Who knows?" the sheriff said. "Did Ollie say anything to you that might shed any light on this?"

"Not a thing," Victoria said. "Have you talked to him at the orphanage?"

"I plan to do that tomorrow morning, or tonight if there's time after I see Sister Theresa," the sheriff said. "In the meantime, his family – or the people who say they're his family are coming to Stockton. They should be here in a day or two."

"You think there's a chance they're not his family?" Nick asked.

"I don't know what's what," Sheriff Madden said. "This is just a can of worms that's gonna take some sorting out – and you know how messy it can get sorting worms."

Heath said, "We'll help you all we can, Fred."

"Sheriff, you're not just going to turn Ollie over to these people without checking them out, are you?" Audra asked.

"No, I'm not, but I'm asking you a big favor. It might be better if he were somewhere more protected than the orphanage until this is settled. I'd like to recommend to Sister Theresa that Ollie come stay with you again for a while."

Sheriff Madden was surprised to see faint smiles on every face in the room. Victoria said, "We were just talking about how much we miss him. Of course we'll have him here if you and Sister Theresa think it's best, Fred."

The sheriff let out a big breath. "It's getting kind of late to bring him back here tonight. He should be all right until morning. If Sister Theresa agrees, I'll bring him back here then."

"Why don't we go in and get him?" Audra said. "I think it would be far less stressful for him. He knows us. He knows he's safe with us. He might be insecure going off with just you. It might even be better if one of us were with you when you talk to him."

"You and I," Victoria said to Audra. "We'll go."

Audra nodded.

"All right," the sheriff said. "I'll look for you at my office about ten tomorrow morning."

Everyone nodded. "I think we'll go with you, Mother," Nick said. "Just in case."

The sheriff nodded again and smiled. He knew he could count on the Barkleys. Now all he had to do was sort things out with the people who claimed to be the boy's family – and that, he had a deep suspicion, was not going to be pretty.

XXXXXXXXX

The next morning they all came into Stockton together – Victoria and Audra in the buggy, Nick and Heath on horseback. They hitched up outside the sheriff's office and went inside. After they exchanged "good morning"s the sheriff said, "I got a little more information from the sheriff in Sacramento about the people who are claiming to be Ollie's family."

"Are they his family?" Victoria asked.

"That's still up in the air," the sheriff said. "There's several of them – boy's father and the father's two sisters."

"No mother?" Audra asked.

"Apparently not," the sheriff said. "We'll find out more when they get here."

"Well, where are they from?" Audra asked. "How was Ollie stolen from them? Who stole him? Why?"

"Audra, I don't know yet!" the sheriff had to interrupt her. "I'll talk to these people when they get here. In the meantime, let's go talk to Ollie and get him off with you and take care of everything else when the family gets here."

They all went over to the orphanage, but Nick and Heath waited outside while Victoria and Audra went inside. The children were having a brief play period inside while the nuns watched over them. Victoria and Audra spotted Ollie right away, playing with some of the other boys, big smiles and laughter all around.

"He fits right in," Victoria said as Sister Theresa joined them.

"He does," Sister Theresa said, "and I hate to let him go even for a minute. He's such sweet child. But for now, he should be somewhere safer, and I know he loves you and feels safe with you."

As if on cue, Ollie spotted the Barkleys and came running over. Audra took him into her arms, saying, "Hello, Olllie!"

"Hello, Miss Audra!" Ollie said cheerfully. "Did you come to play with us?"

"No, not exactly," Audra said. "Actually, we've come to take you home with us again for a little while."

Ollie looked very confused. "Why?"

Victoria and Audra looked at each other. This was going to be difficult, and strange.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _Ollie looked very confused. "Why?"_

 _Victoria and Audra looked at each other. This was going to be difficult, and strange._

"It's complicated, Ollie," Audra said. "Do you remember who the man was who left you where they found you in that other city?"

Ollie nodded, very hesitantly.

"He wasn't your father, was he?"

Ollie shook his head no.

"You were with your real family before that man took you, weren't you?"

Ollie nodded, again hesitantly, so much so that it raised questions in everyone else.

Audra continued anyway. "Well, your real family wants to come for you, but there are reasons they just can't come yet, and the man who took you from them hasn't been caught yet. Everyone thinks it would be safer for you to come back to my house and stay with us for a while. That would be all right, wouldn't it?"

Ollie looked up at Sister Theresa. She smiled and nodded. "It's all right, Ollie. You like it at the Barkleys' house, don't you? And when we clear up all these problems, if you need to, you can always come back here."

"All right," Ollie said. He looked at Audra. "Can we have flapjacks?"

Everyone smiled. "You certainly may," Audra said.

XXXXXXXX

The ride back to the ranch was uneventful, but as soon as they were there and saw Ciego waiting for them, they noticed the Mexican was grinning from ear to ear. He had missed seeing Ollie, too.

When they got Ollie inside, Silas reacted the same way. "Mr. Ollie! It's so good to have you back!"

"Hello, Mr. Silas," Ollie said. "I missed your flapjacks."

"Well, I'll make sure we have some tomorrow morning," Silas said. "And your bedroom is all ready for you, and Mrs. Barkley, I can serve lunch whenever you're ready."

"Let's get Ollie settled first," Victoria said.

Audra took the boy by the hand and reached toward Nick for Ollie's bag with her other hand. It wasn't a big bag, so Audra carried it easily upstairs with Ollie. Nick and Heath joined Victoria in the living room.

"You know, I've been thinking about all this mess about Ollie's family and their trouble and the trouble with this guy who took him," Heath said.

"What have you come up with?" Nick asked.

"Nothing, except I keep wondering what Jarrod would do if he was here."

"I know what he'd do," Nick said. "He'd call in Pinkerton's."

"Do you know who his contact at Pinkerton's is?"

Nick shook his head.

"I do," Victoria said. "The name and address is in the library, in that address book he keeps in the desk drawer."

Nick headed straight for the library, while Victoria sat down on the settee and Heath sat in one of the armchairs. "You know," Heath said, "Ollie really needs a lawyer to look after his interest in this."

"I wish we'd have thought of that before we left town," Victoria said. "We could have talked to Ted Wilson about it."

"Might pay for me or Nick to ride back in," Heath said. "I feel so bad for that poor little kid. Only a lawyer could really see he's protected under the law, so he doesn't have to go anywhere he doesn't want to go."

Victoria sighed. "I do wish Jarrod were here. Not only would he look after Ollie's interest well – he could keep us up to date more easily, too."

"Well, either Nick or I will go back into town and talk to Ted. He'll keep us up to date, especially with Ollie being here."

Nick came back in from the library, looking into the open book he was carrying. "I got it here. There's a Sacramento contact, too. We ought to wire him."

"Heath was saying Ollie needs a lawyer, and we were thinking one of you ought to go back into town and talk to Ted Wilson, or someone else trustworthy if Ted isn't available," Victoria said. "You can wire Pinkerton's then."

"I'll go right after lunch," Nick said. "Heath, maybe you can get out into the field and check in with McCall."

"All right," Heath said. Then he smiled. "Maybe I'll take Ollie with me, give him some good fresh air."

Victoria smiled. "Yes, I'm sure you'd be doing that _all_ for Ollie."

"I was wondering why you didn't complain that it was me going back into town," Nick said.

"If you boys are going to fight over that child, you may have to arm wrestle Audra for him," Victoria said. "And then you darned well better start thinking about finding wives and giving me grandchildren, or I may keep him all to myself."

XXXXXXXX

Heath held Ollie tight around the waist, in front of him in the saddle. Ollie laughed when Heath took off at an easy gallop. "It tickles!" Ollie said, and when Heath tried to slow down, he cried, "Faster! Faster!"

Heath found himself laughing along with the little boy, like he was a little boy himself. They rode on together toward the pasture where the main herd was being kept, and once there Heath had to slow down. Ollie, however, kept laughing.

"How do you like our cows?" Heath asked.

"They smell bad!" Ollie said, still laughing.

Heath came to a stop, scanning the herd and the hands for McCall, but McCall saw him first and came riding up. "Breaking in a new hand, Heath?" he asked, smiling.

Heath said. "Ollie's gonna be staying with us for a little while. Ollie, this is Mr. McCall."

"Hi, there, Ollie," McCall said.

"Everything all right out here?" Heath asked.

"A few coyote bothering the cattle overnight," McCall said. "We chased them off but didn't hit any of them. We'll keep a close eye today and tonight."

"How about the horses?"

McCall pointed toward the east. "Over by the creek. Everything's quiet over there."

Heath looked down toward Ollie. "Ollie, do you want to go see our horses?"

"Yeah!" Ollie said.

Heath looked up at McCall again. "Send somebody in to the house if anything comes up. Either Nick or I or both of us will be back out here to work tomorrow."

McCall nodded, said, "Good-bye, Ollie!" and rode back to work.

Heath had barely started off before Ollie cried, "Faster!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Nick got to town, he wired Pinkerton's first, asking for them to talk to the law in Sacramento and find any information they could on Ollie's family. Then he hustled over to Ted Wilson's office.

The young man who had been an Assistant District Attorney now had a private practice. His office was in the same building as Jarrod's, and he, Jarrod and another attorney in the same building had been sharing a secretary. She had her own office right inside the door to the street. Nick went to see her first.

Her name was Angie and she had worked exclusively for Jarrod for a while, so Nick had gotten to know her. She had a big smile for him when he came in. "Nick! It's good to see you! How have you been?"

"Just fine, just fine," Nick said. "I need to see Ted Wilson. Is he in?"

"I think so. Go on up."

"Have you heard from Jarrod lately?" Nick asked.

Angie shook her head. "No, not for a while, but he said we wouldn't."

Nick heaved a sigh. "I hate it when he goes off on his own crusade like this. I keep telling him to stay in touch, but he doesn't do it, not enough to suit us anyway."

"Knowing him, he gets too busy. If I hear from him, I'll let you know, but would you do me the same favor?"

Nick nodded, heading for the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Nick knocked on Ted Wilson's door a minute or so later, and he heard Ted's voice ask him in. Nick went inside. Ted's office was small and spare. He had few legal books, but that was because he and the other attorney in the building were using Jarrod's collection, most of which he now kept in the secretary's office.

Ted Wilson smiled. "Nick! Good to see you!" He stood up behind his desk and reached a hand over.

Nick took it. "Good to see you, too, Ted. How you been?"

"Getting busier, thank goodness, since Jarrod's been gone. Have you heard from him?"

"No, we haven't." Nick took his hat off and sat down in the chair in front of Ted's desk, as Ted sat down again behind it. "Looks like we need your help with a little houseguest of ours. His name is Ollie, and he's six years old."

Ted raised his eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"He was in the train wreck with Audra. Had a note attached to him sending him to the orphanage here, but it looks like he was actually stolen from his family and he doesn't belong there at all."

"Stolen? Dear God."

"That's what we said. Anyway, his family is coming here, but the sheriff is a bit uncomfortable with everybody and everything involved in this. I wired Pinkerton's to see if we could find out anything more about the family. We think Ollie needs his own lawyer to look out for his interests. We don't want him going off to a family that isn't really his. We'll pay you, of course."

"Where is the boy now?"

"Out at the ranch. The sheriff thought he'd be safer out there."

"Of course I'll represent him. Why don't we go on out there and I'll get to know the little guy."

They stood up, and Nick broke into a bigger smile. "He's quite a kid. You're gonna like him."

"My favorite kind of client."

XXXXXXXX

When Nick and Ted came into the house, Ollie was being chased through the foyer by Audra, with Victoria calling from the dining room, "No running in the house!"

Audra caught Ollie and he giggled away – until he saw Ted Wilson. At six foot five, Ted was almost as tall as the sheriff was, and tall men seemed to impress Ollie. He looked way up high at the lawyer's smiling face and said, "Wow!"

Victoria came in from the dining room then, as Ted was stooping down closer to Ollie's level and saying, "Hi, Ollie. I'm Mr. Wilson and guess what? I am your very own lawyer."

"What's a lawyer?" Ollie asked.

"A lawyer is someone who looks out for you when you might have problems with the law," Ted said, and when Ollie looked confused, he added, "Sometimes people have arguments with each other, or sometimes when children like you have gotten separated from their families, a judge has to sort things out to see where the children should go to live."

"I'm gonna live at the orphanage," Ollie said.

"Yes, I know," Ted said, "but if your real family came to get you, wouldn't you rather live with them?"

Ollie looked uncertain, and it alarmed everyone.

But Ted seemed almost ready for it. "So you see, I'm your very own lawyer, to help you figure out where you're going to live and who you're going to live with. I won't let anybody claim you belong to them if it isn't true. All you have to do is tell me what's true and what isn't when we ask you things. Is that all right?"

Ollie nodded, but he held tightly to Audra. She bent down to his level, too, and said, "Mr. Wilson is a very nice man and I like him very much. If he were my very own lawyer, I'd feel very happy about that."

That seemed to make Ollie ease up a bit. "Am I going to stay here for a while?"

"For a while," Ted said. "When your family gets here, we'll talk to them and we'll talk to you, too, and we'll see how we can work things out."

"I don't want to go with my papa anymore," Ollie said, very quietly.

Ted looked at Audra, really concerned. Audra said to Ollie, "Why not, Ollie? Don't you love your papa?"

Ollie shook his head.

"Did your papa hurt you?" Ted asked.

"He gave me away," Ollie said.

The adults all exchanged looks.

"Who did he give you away to?" Ted asked.

"A man."

"Did this man have a name?"

Ollie shook his head.

The adults were all taken aback, alarmed at the possibility that Ollie's father may actually have given him away to the man who abandoned him. They knew Ollie was going to have trouble explaining it.

"Ollie," Audra said, attracting his attention, "was this the man who left you in that other city?"

"Nobody left me," Ollie said, hanging his head. "I ran away and I got lost."

"Why did you run away?" Audra asked.

"I didn't like that man. He made me work real hard and he hit me. He hit me real hard."

Ollie started to cry, and Audra held him close. "Nobody here is going to hit you, Ollie, and no one is going to give you away. You're safe here and at the orphanage. We will all be sure you're safe."

"And I will help everyone to keep you safe," Ted said. "Did that man hurt you in any other way?"

Ollie shook his head. "I ran away."

"Did your papa ever hit you?" Ted asked.

Ollie nodded.

"How about your aunts. Did they ever hit you?"

Ollie nodded again.

"Did they hit you on your bottom or on your face?"

"On my bottom sometimes, on my face sometimes."

"Did they hit you anywhere else?"

"My hand once. It hurt."

"Did they do anything else to you that you didn't like?"

"Yelled at me a lot. Grabbed me hard sometimes and shook me real hard."

"Ollie," Victoria said, coming closer, "we won't hit you here. We'll talk to your family when they get here, and Mr. Wilson will help the judge decide where you live from now on. And we will listen to what you say and what you want."

Audra stood up, still holding Ollie's hand. "Why don't we go outside for a walk, Ollie? We'll go see the horses and the puppies again, would you like that?"

Ollie nodded, and Ted nodded as he straightened up.

As soon as Audra and Ollie were out the door, Ted said, "There's more to this than you thought. Are you ready to keep Ollie a bit longer than you planned?"

"We'll keep him as long as he needs us and we're allowed to keep him," Victoria said. "And we'll pay for your services as long as we need to."

Heath came in from the kitchen just then, eating an apple. "Well, hi, Ted. I was wondering where everybody went." Then he saw the looks on everyone's face. "What's wrong?"

"Ollie just said that his father gave him to the man in Sacramento," Victoria said. "He also said the man worked him hard and hit him, so he ran away. Did he say anything like that while you were out riding?"

Heath shook his head. "No, we were just having fun. But it sounds like we got to worry about the family as well as the man he ran away from."

"Yes," Ted said. "We're gonna have to ask a lot of questions when that family gets here. Ollie may be a lot better off at the orphanage than back with his family."

"That poor little kid," Heath said. "Life hasn't been good to him so far, has it?"

"We need to change that," Victoria said.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When he got back to town, Ted Wilson went straight to the sheriff's office, hoping to find out some more information about Ollie's family and when they would be arriving. The sheriff was not in, so Ted went looking around town for him. He finally found him walking up the street from the courthouse, back toward his office.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ted asked that they go to the sheriff's office for a private talk. Once they were inside, Ted said, "The Barkleys have hired me to represent little Ollie."

"They have?" the sheriff asked. "I guess that means Jarrod isn't due back anytime soon."

"Apparently not," Ted said. "I think the Barkleys just want to be sure Ollie's interests are looked after once his family gets here. When do you expect them?"

"Today or tomorrow," Sheriff Madden said. "What are the Barkleys worried about?"

"Well, I talked to Ollie today, in their presence. Ollie said he didn't want to live with his father anymore."

"Really?"

"Ollie said his father gave him away to this man who is supposed to have abandoned him. Ollie also says he ran away from that man because the man worked him and hit him, hard."

Sheriff Madden sank into his chair. He hated it when his job brought him into cases involving children who have been ill used. He knew for every one that came to his attention, there were probably a dozen more no one ever heard about. "I take it you'll want to talk to the family when they get here."

"And maybe bring suit to have Ollie kept away from them. The boy certainly seems happier at the orphanage, and if that family gave him away once, they'll do it again."

"If they gave him away once, why do they want to come get him back?"

"You're not gonna like what I'm thinking. They didn't give him away. They sold him."

"That's just what I was thinking they probably did. Poor little kid. But you know, if the family wants him back, we're gonna have to have some mighty heavy facts against that to keep him at the orphanage."

"Unless we can talk the family into just giving him up. That's what I'd like to try first."

"The Barkleys are on board with this?"

"Yes, they are. They love that little guy. Can't say I blame them."

Sheriff Madden saw the affection in Ted's eyes. Ted and his wife hadn't been blessed with children of their own, and everybody in town knew they were eager to have them and would be good parents. It just hadn't happened for them yet. "I'll let you know as soon as they get here."

"For the time being, don't tell them Ollie is at the Barkleys' place, would you?" Ted asked. "I'd like to talk to them first, and if I have to file suit with the court, I want to include a motion for a restraining order. I'd just as soon they not know where Ollie is until I'm forced to tell them."

"All right, I'll wait for that court order too before I tell them anything," Sheriff Madden said.

"I hope we can clear this up in the next day or two. The little guy needs some real stability in his life."

With that, Ted went out. He returned to his office and immediately started drafting the suit and the motion he hoped he never had to file with the court.

XXXXXXXX

Audra tucked Ollie into bed after dinner, but the little boy seemed very distant and unhappy tonight. "Tomorrow morning we're going to have flapjacks!" Audra tried.

Ollie was unimpressed.

"What's the matter, Ollie? You love Silas's flapjacks!"

Ollie leveled a frightened gaze at her. "Are you going to give me away?"

Audra took him into her arms. "Olllie, we're not going to do anything until Mr. Wilson has talked to the judge and the judge and the sheriff have talked to your family."

"I don't want to go back with them." Ollie started to cry.

So did Audra. "We'll fight as hard as we can to keep that from happening, if that's what you want."

Nick came peeking around the door and then came in. "I heard Ollie crying," he said quietly, and then he sat down on the edge of the bed beside Audra and rubbed Ollie's back. "What's the matter, little man? Are you scared?"

Ollie nodded and pulled back from Audra. She took the opportunity to wipe her eyes so Ollie wouldn't see she'd been crying.

"Well, now," Nick said. "I got just the cure for being scared."

"What is it?" Ollie asked, very interested, rubbing his own eyes.

"When I was a little boy, I had a big brother, and when I was scared, he would come and tell me a story."

"What story?"

"Well, you lie down here under the covers and I'll tell it to you, and you'll fall asleep and when you wake up you won't be scared anymore. Here we go."

Nick pulled the blankets up to Ollie's chin, and Audra smiled. She knew the story Nick was going to tell. He had told it to her more than once when she was growing up, but she bet the lead character would change.

Nick began. "Once upon a time, in a land called California, there was a handsome prince named Ollie. He had yellow hair and big blue eyes, and he was the bravest boy in all California..."

Ollie was asleep before Nick got anywhere near the part where Prince Ollie had to go after the dragon. He and Audra turned the light down and left the room, leaving the door open just a crack in case Ollie woke up and needed them. They quietly went back downstairs.

"I was wondering how you were going to turn Princess Audra into Prince Ollie," Audra said.

"It was easy," Nick said. "Especially since when I first learned it, it was about Prince Nicholas."

Audra laughed.

"Jarrod used to tell it to me when I was scared at night," Nick said. "I suppose Father or Mother told it to him when he was little, and it was Prince Jarrod then."

"I'm really worried about Ollie," Audra said, sobering. "What if we can't keep him away from his family?"

"Ted will do his darndest," Nick said, putting his arm around her as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "And we'll do everything we can to help him."

"You and I both know that sometimes that isn't good enough."

Nick kissed her on the cheek. "Don't go borrowing trouble, Audra."

"I'm not borrowing trouble. I just want to be prepared with something, if they force Ollie to go back with his father. Ollie ran away once. He could do it again, and if his family hits him again, he will run away, and then what? Oh, Nick, he won't have us to help him then."

"We'll talk to Ted. We'll have our options lined up. We'll be ready."

Audra tried a smile she really didn't feel up to having. "I love that little boy, Nick."

"I know you do. We all do. Don't worry. We'll work this out."

Nick kissed her again, and they walked into the living room. But they noticed both Victoria and Heath were already watching them and listening to them. They looked concerned, too.

The world was full of "what ifs," and when they involved an innocent and vulnerable child, every one of the Barkleys believed they had to make sure that child was protected, whether that child was one or their own or not. They had come to feel like Ollie was one of their own, though, and the impulse to protect him was very strong. But they also knew how the real world worked. If a parent claimed a child, that parent was almost guaranteed to walk off with that child, even if the parent took a whip to that child every day of his life. It was the way of the world. It was the way of the law. It was what they had to prepare for, even though not one of them knew how to do it.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

They arrived the next day on the stage, the man name Eli Mitchell and two women, purportedly his sisters Jenny and Clara Mitchell. Sheriff Madden knew who they were as soon as they stepped into his office. They were sullen, rough around the edges, dressed in plain, drab clothes. And without even a "hello," Eli Mitchell said, "I've come for my son."

The sheriff had been seated at his desk, but he stood up in the presence of the women. "We're gonna have a talk about that."

"What's to talk about?" Mitchell said. "A man took my son and he's ended up here and I want him back."

"I need to call Ollie's lawyer in on this," Sheriff Madden said.

Mitchell went pale. "Lawyer? What's a six-year-old boy doing with a lawyer?"

The sheriff's deputy had been posting wanted posters, but stopped when the Mitchells came in. The sheriff nodded toward him and said, "Clyde, go get Ted Wilson over here, will you?"

Clyde went out the door right away.

"What's going on here?" Mitchell asked. "I thought I was gonna be able to take my son with me. He was stolen, and I want him back with me."

"As soon as his lawyer, Mr. Wilson, gets here we can talk everything over, but the first thing we need to get out of the way is your proof that Ollie is your son. What have you got?"

Mitchell began to look uncomfortable. "You mean papers? I don't have any papers. I might could go to the church where we had the boy baptized and it would be in their records, but that church is in Reno. Ollie will tell you I'm his father as soon as he sees me!"

"Maybe," Sheriff Madden said, "but that's not gonna be the end of the question. Ladies, may I offer you a chair until Mr. Wilson gets here? Maybe some coffee?"

The women just shook their heads. Mitchell said, "We don't want anything but my son. If I need to go to Reno to get something from that church, I'll do it, but Ollie will tell you when he sees me, I am his father."

"It's more complicated than that, Mr. Mitchell," the sheriff said. "If you'll please just be patient for a few minutes, Mr. Wilson will be here and will explain everything."

"Where's Ollie?"

"He's with a local family. He was injured in a train wreck, but he's doing fine now."

"Injured how?"

"A slight head injury."

"He had a doctor?"

"He did. He's fine now. It wasn't a serious injury."

"Then I'm taking him out of here with me. You go get him and bring him to me right now."

Ted Wilson came hurrying in the door, Clyde right behind him. Sheriff Madden breathed a little easier. "Mr. Mitchell, this is Ted Wilson. He's Ollie's attorney."

Ted offered his hand, but Mitchell would not take it. "Where is my boy?" Mitchell asked.

"He's with a local family," Ted said. "He's fine."

"This sheriff doesn't believe I'm his father," Mitchell said.

"Do you have proof that you are?" Ted asked.

"I told him, I don't carry any around with me, but I can go to that church in Reno where he was baptized and get the right papers."

"You may have to do that," Ted said, "but let's deal with some other issues first. When I talked to Ollie about how he ended up alone on the train, coming to our orphanage here, he told me that he had run away from a man who worked him hard and beat him, and that you had given him to that man."

"What?!" Mitchell blurted out. "Of all the – that boy ran off on his own!"

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Why do boys run away? They don't like that you try to discipline them and teach them how to work hard, so they run away!"

"How did he come to be with this other man?"

"How do I know that?"

"Mr. Mitchell, I'll be blunt. Ollie said you gave him to that man. I think it's more likely you sold him."

Mitchell went for Ted's throat, but Ted had a good eight inches of height and fifty pounds on weight on him. Ted held him back and pushed him off without much effort.

Ted said, "The sheriff is not going to let you have Ollie so long as these issues are unresolved. I'm going to be representing Ollie in these proceedings, and I'm going to get a restraining order keeping you away from him until we can have a hearing before the court to sort this out."

Mitchell went for him again.

Ted again pushed him off easily. "Mr. Mitchell, if you keep attacking me, it's not going to bode well for your claim. I suggest you go take a walk and decide what you want to do. But I'm going to ask you flat out, right now – did you sell your son to another man?"

"No, I didn't sell him and I didn't give him to no other man!" Mitchell yelled. "He ran away. If he ended up with some other man, that man stole him!"

"We'll let the court sort this out, Mr. Mitchell," Ted said. "In the meantime, I suggest you go get a certificate of baptism from the church in Reno so that there will be no question of your relationship to Ollie when we go before the court."

"When will that be?" Mitchell asked.

"I don't know, but I'll make sure it doesn't get scheduled before you get back."

Mitchell began to slouch a bit. "I don't have money to go to Reno."

"Well, then, wire them and see if they will mail a certificate to you here."

"I don't remember the name of the church. I just remember where it is."

"Try wiring the sheriff in Reno, then. That's all I'm going to help you with, because my job is to protect Ollie, not you. I suggest you go outside, take a walk, decide what you want to do."

Mitchell looked hesitant, awkward, but then he went right out the door, his sisters right behind him.

The sheriff heaved a sigh. "What do you think they're gonna do?"

"I don't know," Ted said. "Maybe wire the sheriff to track down that church. Maybe. Maybe just give up on this claim of theirs and leave Ollie alone. But I'm going to file for that restraining order and then go out to the Barkleys, tell them about this. I don't think Mitchell would be stupid enough to try to find Ollie on his own and go get him, but who can figure people? Sometimes they do the unexpected even when it's foolish."

"Be careful they don't follow you to the Barkleys' ranch," the sheriff said. "I can go with you if you want."

Ted considered it. "Not a bad idea. Let me go over to the courthouse and then I'll come back here, and we'll take off."

Sheriff Madden nodded. "I hope they do do one thing you think they might – leave."

Ted nodded. "So do I."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mitchell went to the telegraph office and sent a wire. It was not to a church in Reno – there was no church in Reno who had a record of Ollie's baptism. Mitchell had run a bluff that did not work. The wire he sent was to a man named Mercer in Sacramento. It said only that there were problems in Stockton and there would be a delay in finishing their business. By then, Mitchell ran out of money.

"What are we gonna do for food?" one of his sisters asked.

"We'll go to the church here, see if they'll feed us and put us up tonight," Mitchell said. Then he grumbled to himself. He had not planned on having to stay in Stockton at all. He thought he could claim Ollie, that Ollie would say he was his son, and they would all just leave and go back to Sacramento. Back there, he could complete his business with Mercer and be two hundred dollars richer.

But now he was just broke in Stockton.

"Why don't we just get on out of here?" his sister asked. "We got return tickets already. We can find another boy in Sacramento for Mr. Mercer."

Mitchell shook his head. "Let's see if we can get fed and put up and get Ollie back in a day or two. Mercer doesn't want just any boy. He wants one as sweet and handsome as Ollie is. Boys on the street don't fit that description very well. We need to give him Ollie if we want his money."

They realized the telegraph operator was trying to hear what they were saying, so Mitchell ushered his sisters out of the office and into the street. He spotted a church at the end of the street, and they headed there.

Mitchell was right. The priest gave them some food and a place to sleep for the night. Mitchell was comfortable that he had some time now to figure out his plans and to find a way to get Ollie back. As he ate and then rested, he thought and he planned. He decided to see if he could get enough money from the priest to telegraph Mercer one more time.

If he couldn't get Ollie legally, then he'd have to find a way to snatch him, and he wanted to be able to hand him off to somebody else fast, to minimize the chance he'd be caught with Ollie on his hands. If he could get Mercer to come to Stockton and at least hang around close by, he stood a good chance of selling Ollie fast and getting away with it.

Now all he had to do was figure out a way to snatch Ollie, maybe even before the court got hold of things. It would be easy enough to say Ollie ran off again, if he turned up missing from whatever that family was that had him.

Mitchell got lucky again. The priest gave him enough money for another telegram to Mercer in Sacramento. He hoped to get a reply that Mercer would be here the next day. The reply came – _Horseback tomorrow. Stop._ Was all it said.

It was enough.

XXXXXXXX

As Mitchell was making his plans, Ted and the sheriff were headed for the Barkley ranch. When they got there, they found Ciego laughing and chasing Ollie around the stableyard. Ciego caught Ollie and began tickling him just as Ted and the sheriff arrived. Ollie laughed like crazy, saying, "Stop! Stop!" but then tickling Ciego in return when he did stop.

"I have to go to work now, Senor Ollie!" Ciego said and let him go.

Ollie stayed and watched Ted and the sheriff dismount. "Looks like somebody's been wearing Ciego out," Ted said. "How are you doing today, Ollie?"

"Fine," Ollie said, looking way up in awe at the two tallest men in Stockton.

"Are Miss Audra and Mrs. Barkley here?"

"Yes."

"Come on. Let's go inside," the sheriff said.

The let Ciego have their horses and headed into the house, guiding Ollie ahead of them. Victoria was there at the front door when they approached. "Well, I was wondering where you got to!" she said to Ollie.

"He was tormenting Ciego out here," the sheriff said, "but I think Ciego will survive."

""We need to talk," Ted said. "Shall we let Ollie have at Ciego again?"

"No, I don't think so," Victoria said. She called Audra, who appeared at the door with her. "Audra, why don't you take Ollie out for a walk – and I mean walk, not run, Ollie!"

"Yes, ma'am," Ollie said.

"I think a walk in the garden and then a bit of a reading lesson is a good idea," Audra said. She took Ollie's hand. "Come on. We'll go out through the kitchen and I'll pick up your reader on the way."

"Okay," Ollie said, and he and Audra left through the back of the house.

Victoria ushered Ted and the sheriff into the living room, saying, "May I get either of you a drink or some coffee?"

"No, thank you, Victoria," Sheriff Madden said.

"Not for me, either," Ted said. "Ollie's family is in town. We had a bit of a talk today that I think we should discuss."

They sat down at the fireplace, Victoria saying, "I had a feeling that's why you came."

Ted gave her a quick rundown of how the conversation with the Mitchell's went. Victoria listened carefully, and as Ted finished up with, "I got a quick restraining order from the judge, and I'll serve it on the Mitchells as soon as I find them."

"I need to tell you we wired Pinkerton's in Sacramento to see if they could find out anything about Ollie's family," Victoria said. "We got a reply this morning, but they were not able to find out anything about these people. Of course, we didn't have a name then."

"I kinda have a feeling that you won't be getting anything helpful from Pinkerton's, Victoria," Sheriff Madden said. "These people live out of sight, I'm sure of it. There probably aren't any records anywhere on any of them."

"Do you think they're still in Stockton?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, but I don't know where," Ted Wilson said.

Sheriff Madden said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they want Ollie back so bad because they have another sale lined up."

"Oh, dear God," Victoria said. "You think they _sold_ Ollie to the man he ran away from in Sacramento?"

Sheriff Madden nodded. "It's the only thing that makes any sense. If they had just given the boy away, they wouldn't be so anxious to get him back now."

"Or everything we're worrying about isn't real," Victoria said. "Maybe Ollie did just run away for some reason and he won't own up to it."

"That's possible," Ted said. "I think another talk with him is in order, but I don't want to rush into it. We haven't let on that you're the family Ollie is with. I think it's important you keep him here on the property, away from town, while the Mitchells are around. My gut is telling me that Mitchell did sell the boy, and he'll do it again."

"He may already have another buyer lined up," the sheriff said.

"Something else scares me," Victoria said. "What if Mitchell is afraid Ollie will tell us everything? Ollie could be in danger."

"I doubt Ollie knows that money changed hands," Ted said. "I believe he just thinks his father gave him away, for reasons that were never explained to him. I think Ollie believes his father will give him away again. Ollie will never see the money change hands. The only danger he's in is that he'll be sold over and over again if Mitchell gets the chance to do it."

Victoria nodded sadly. "Ted, I want to do everything we can to keep that from happening."

Ted nodded. "I will. Let's go have another talk with Ollie, just to be sure of what he truly believes."

The three of them got up and went into the garden, where Audra and Ollie were huddled over his reader. They looked up as the others approached, and Ollie drew closer to Audra again, his eyes suspicious.

"Hi, Ollie," Ted said, and he got on his knees in front of the bench Audra and Ollie were sharing. "Do you remember who I am?"

Ollie nodded.

"You remember that I work for you? That I'm your lawyer and I'm going to protect you from anybody who might want to take you away?"

Ollie nodded again.

"Now, I don't want you to be afraid, but your father and your aunts are in town now. They want you to come with them."

"No!" Ollie yelled.

Ted put his hand on the boy's hand, which held tightly to Audra's arm. "They're not just going to walk off with you, Ollie. We're going to make them prove that you are Mr. Mitchell's son, and we're going to tell the judge all the things you told me about how your father gave you to the man who worked you hard and beat you. We'll tell the judge why you ran away. We'll tell him all the things that are true, and that you want to stay at the orphanage. We'll do all that together, Ollie, you and me, and the Barkleys will be there, too. All right?"

Ollie smiled a bit then and nodded.

"Good," Ted said and gave his hand a squeeze. "Now, why don't you tell me again exactly what happened and how you came to be with that man you ran away from?"

"Papa gave me away," Ollie said and then, for the first time since talking about what happened, Ollie began to cry. Tears ran down his face and he shivered.

Audra put her arm around him and gathered him in. Ted rubbed the boy's arm, saying, "I know this is bad and scary, Ollie, but we're all here to look out for you, and we need you to be very brave. Can you do that?"

Ollie nodded, his face buried in Audra's shoulder. Audra was near tears herself.

Ted said, "We'll take everything slow. If you get scared and want to cry, it's all right. Nobody is going to hurt you because of that. Have other people hurt you when you cry?"

Ollie didn't move or answer at first, but then he finally nodded.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Who hurt you because you cry, Ollie?" Ted Wilson asked.

Ollie's answer was almost impossible to hear, since his face was buried in Audra's shoulder, but he said, "Papa. And the man."

"Did they hit you?"

Ollie nodded. "On my face."

"More than one time?"

Ollie nodded.

Ted leaned back a bit. "Ollie, would you like a glass of water or some milk?"

Ollie nodded again and said, "Some water."

Victoria went back into the house to fetch a glass.

"Mrs. Barkley has gone to get you some water," Ted said. "Why don't we just wait quietly for her to come back? I won't ask you anything more just yet."

Ollie sat up straighter, coming away from Audra's shoulder, but Audra kept her arm around him. She smiled and gave him a kiss on his forehead, and Ollie rubbed his eyes.

Then Ollie abruptly said, "Papa isn't my papa really."

That surprised everyone. "He isn't?" Ted said.

Ollie nodded.

"Do you know where your real family is?" Ted asked.

Ollie shook his head.

"Do you know how you came to live with your Papa?"

Ollie said, "I was going to school. He came and got me. He said he was my papa now and I had to go with him. I cried and he hit me, and I went with him."

Ted looked up at Audra, then back at Ollie. "Do you know when this was, Ollie? Was it cold outside or was it very warm?"

"It was warm and pretty."

Spring. Ted judged it had only been a few months since Ollie was taken by the Mitchells, but now there was a whole new wrinkle in the fabric of Ollie's life. Somewhere there was a family he belonged to, but it wasn't the Mitchells. "Do you remember where you lived before Papa took you?" Ted asked. "Did the town have a name?"

Ollie just shook his head.

"Did the school have a name?"

Ollie shook his head again.

"Ollie," Audra asked, "do you remember if you have a last name?"

"Mitchell," Ollie said.

"No, before that. Did you have another name?"

Ollie thought hard. It was there inside him, that other name, but it was having trouble coming out.

Ted said, "Nevermind, Ollie. We can talk about that again later. Miss Audra, why don't you and Ollie walk around the garden a bit, and come back inside the house after a while?"

Audra nodded and stood up with Ollie, just as Victoria was arriving with a glass of water for him. Ollie took the glass and took a big drink. Ted explained that they were going to take a break and Audra was going to walk with Ollie for a while. Then Victoria, Ted and the sheriff went back into the house.

Audra held onto Ollie's hand and they walked together very slowly among the flowers. Audra didn't say anything, just stopped now and then to smell the flowers and allow Ollie to smell them. The boy was silent, as silent as he was after the train wreck. Audra could hardly keep herself from breaking into tears. Every little bit of Ollie's life that was coming out of him was more horrible than the last. How could they ever find a real life of joy and love for this beautiful little boy?

Inside the house, Ted said to Victoria, "Ollie just said that this Mitchell fellow is not his real father. Ollie said Mitchell took him on his way to school and told him he was his father now."

Victoria's mouth fell open. "What is going on here?"

"I don't know, but we'll get to the bottom of it," Sheriff Madden said. "The judge is gonna have to know what Ollie just said as soon as possible."

"We're taking a little break, and then I'll want to talk to him some more," Ted said. "I don't know if there are going to be any more surprises or not."

"You don't think he's making any of these things up, do you?" Victoria asked.

"Well, Mitchell is supposed to be sending for a certificate from the church in Reno where he had Ollie baptized when he was born," Ted said. "If he can't come up with a certificate, then Ollie's story looks a lot more credible."

The sheriff said, "We can't let Mitchell know what Ollie just said, not yet anyway. He'll bolt, and probably go on grabbing children somewhere else."

"He's kidnapping children and selling them, isn't he?" Victoria said.

"Looks like it," Ted said. "There's no telling how often he's done it."

"Oh, I can't believe this," Victoria said. "We have to stop this man. Fred, can't you arrest him?"

Sheriff Madden shook his head. "Not just on Ollie's say so. I need something more. Ted, I think I want to head back into town and get in touch with the federal officers in San Francisco. If something like this is going on, they're bound to know about it – or they need to know about it now."

"All right," Ted said. "I'll talk to Ollie some more, and then I'll go in and see the judge about what Ollie's said. I'd appreciate it if you'd have your deputy keep an eye on Mitchell, just in case he does take off, or tries anything else."

"We'll be keeping Ollie here on the ranch until you need him in town," Victoria said. "I don't want this Mitchell anywhere near him."

"He should be safe out here," the Sheriff said. "Mitchell's more likely to run if things get hot, rather than try to get Ollie away from you. Just keep your eyes open and keep Ollie close to the house or with one of the men."

Victoria nodded.

"I'll see you later," Sheriff Madden said and headed for the front door.

Ted looked at Victoria and saw her eyes were wet. He smiled a little. "Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this and see that it's fixed."

"I just feel so badly for that little boy," Victoria said. "God alone knows what's been done to him."

"Try not to think about it," Ted said. "We're going to set things right for him, right now."

"He is awfully resilient, isn't he? To be taken and sold and have to run away, only to be involved in a train wreck and now the object of a custody fight involving the man who took him in the first place. And he still spends most of his time around here laughing."

Ted smiled. "He is quite a little man. What bothers me is that it may be nearly impossible to reunite him with his real family, if he can't even say what his real last name is."

"We'll do the best we can, after we get this Mitchell fellow out of the picture. Ted, I didn't know how complicated this was going to get when we hired you. I hope it's not taking you away from any other important cases you have."

Ted shook his head. "Nothing that can't be put off a little bit. And I'll talk to the judge about moving things along as quickly as possible. Why don't we go out and talk to Ollie a little more? I'd like to get my bothering him out of the way so he can laugh again."

Victoria smiled, just at the thought of Ollie laughing again. The boy's happiness was infectious. She wanted to see that it lasted and lasted. She nodded, and they went back outside to talk to Ollie some more.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

There were no more surprises when Ted finished talking with Ollie. The little boy stayed very close to Audra, though, and when Ted finally said, "All right, Ollie, we're all through with my questions. Now, do you have any questions for me?" Ollie straightened up more and smiled.

"When can I go play with the other children again?" Ollie asked.

"At the orphanage?" Audra asked.

Ollie nodded.

"Just as soon as we get all these other things straightened out," Ted said. "Maybe even tomorrow or the next day."

"Do you like the other children at the orphanage?" Audra asked.

Ollie nodded again. Then he asked, "Will you send Papa away?"

"Do you want him to go away?" Ted asked.

Ollie nodded.

"Then we'll do our best to send him away," Ted said.

When Ted left for town, Victoria and Audra took Ollie inside for a nap, but he was having trouble settling down. Audra had an idea, and took him out the back of the house to where the porch swing was. She sat down with him there and put her arm around him so he could rest against her shoulder. She eased the swing back and forth and hummed an old lullaby she remembered her mother singing to her when she was small, and before long, they were both asleep.

Victoria looked out and saw them like that. She smiled, but it was a sad smile. That little boy deserved so much better than he was getting out of life. She said a small prayer, asking God to look over Ollie and give him the peace and happiness he deserved to grow up with.

XXXXXXX

The first thing Ted did when he got back to town was to check with the telegraph operator, asking whether Mitchell had sent a wire to Reno. The operator was a little reluctant to answer, but he finally told him that Mitchell had not done that. Ted was not surprised. By now he was certain there was no church in Reno and there had been no baptism for Ollie.

Ted next went to see the sheriff and found him in his office, alone. "Fred," he said as he closed the door. "Have you contacted the federals in San Francisco?"

The sheriff nodded. "Sent the wire, but don't have a reply yet. I also have my deputy keeping an eye on Mitchell. And I hope you don't mind, but I ran into Judge Farnham at the Stockton House, and I told him what Ollie said about Mitchell not being his father."

"I just talked to the telegraph operator," Ted said. "Mitchell didn't send any message to anybody in Reno."

"Yeah, he told me that, too, when I sent the wire to San Francisco."

"Mitchell's probably going to make a run for it."

"I don't know. I got a bad feeling. I think he's already got another buyer for Ollie, and he's not gonna give up that money."

"If that's true, he's probably going to try to get Ollie away from the Barkleys and then make a run for it."

"The Barkleys will look out for the boy. What I'm worried about is that Mitchell will make a try for him when you bring the boy here in town to go to court."

"I'm not sure when that will be," Ted said. "Tomorrow or the next day, probably. I'll go out to the Barkley place again tomorrow. I'll talk to them then about having some men come in with me when I bring Ollie here."

"Nick and Heath are probably going to want to take that job," Sheriff Madden said. "The hard part may be keeping Victoria and Audra back on the ranch and out of the line of fire."

Ted heaved a big sigh. "They really love that kid."

"He's a loveable kid."

Ted smiled. "I noticed."

XXXXXXX

Mitchell and his sisters talked the priest into letting them stay another night. Mitchell still had not completely thought out how he was going to get Ollie back, and that was a problem, because as the next day dawned, Mitchell knew it would bring Mercer with it. Mercer was not going to want to hang around Stockton for long. He was going to want to get Ollie, pay the money for him, and be out of the area as fast as possible. Mitchell's problem was how to make that happen.

Mercer was particular about the boy he wanted. The boy had to be sweet and good-looking and no more than eight years old. Mitchell had no illusions about what Mercer wanted him for, but he didn't care, either. Ollie was a perfect fit, much better than a boy just taken off the streets, and Ollie had no parents to get in the way. Just grab him, give him to Mercer, get the money, and leave town. No one would ever complain.

Mercer arrived in town fairly early. Mitchell saw him go into one of the saloons, a tall man with a beard and glasses, and black hair that hung over his collar. Mitchell made his decision on how to approach Mercer and the problem of getting Ollie away from the people who had him.

Mitchell knew by now it was the Barkley family who had him. It only took asking the right people, people who would not have much information about the boy or the Mitchells and would be happy to help a man find his son. People who would not take his questions to the sheriff. Mitchell found out who the Barkleys were and where they lived. Now it was just a matter of getting to them at a vulnerable time.

Mitchell went into the saloon where Mercer had gone and found the man at a table in the back, drinking a beer. His head was down as he drank. He scarcely looked up as Mitchell sat down with him. Mercer did not want anyone in this town remembering what he looked like.

"Where's the boy?" Mercer asked.

"A family near here has taken him in," Mitchell said. "We're going to have to get him away from them."

Mercer started to say something, but then hesitated. "You're asking me to help you do this?"

Mitchell nodded. "He's the boy you want. They don't come any prettier. And I can always sell him elsewhere once I get him back."

"You do and you'll find a bullet in your head," Mercer said.

"Go get him with me, and you'll be guaranteed to be the one to get him."

Mercer looked away for a moment, as if he were about to laugh at the gall of this character sitting with him. But then he said, "Where is the boy?"

"With a family named Barkley," Mitchell said.

Mercer looked surprised.

"You know them?" Mitchell asked.

Mercer nodded. "Very well known and very rich family. I don't know how you plan to get him away from them. I hear their place is like a fort."

"I've been asking around. They're doing round-up right now and they usually don't have a lot of help around the family home in the middle of the day. Just a houseman and a stable hand, maybe one other, maybe not. The rest are out on the range."

"So your idea is to ride up to the house in mid-afternoon and barge in and grab the boy?" Mercer asked. Then he snorted. "You got more cheek than brains, Mitchell. You'd get us locked up for sure."

"They don't know what I look like, and I'm guessing they don't know who you are at all. We can be in and out of there in five minutes."

Mercer shook his head. "You're crazy."

"He's the prettiest boy you've ever seen."

Mercer looked interested again.

"Easy to tame. He'd give you no trouble at all. I've looked all over for a boy like him and never seen the like."

Mercer looked down at his beer and took a drink. "Do you have a horse?"

"I'll just borrow one, meet you just outside of town on the road toward the Barkley place."

Mercer snorted again. "Borrow means steal, right?"

Mitchell smiled. "I can get it and use it and return it before anybody knows it's been gone. You'd be on your way with the boy and long outta here before anybody knows."

"And what do you plan to do with the people at the ranch, the women and the hands? I am not in this for any murder charge."

"We leave them, and we're gone."

Mercer started to laugh. "You are either insane or incredibly stupid. They'll be after us."

"You want the boy or not?"

Mercer looked like he was thinking again. He finally said, "All right. We'll scope it out. But if there are too many people there or it otherwise looks bad, the whole deal is off. All of it. And I'm out of here. Got that?"

Mitchell smiled and nodded.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was just before noon when Ted arrived back out at the Barkley ranch. "You're just in time for lunch!" Victoria said as she let him in the front door.

"Thank you," Ted said. "We don't have a lot to talk about, so we can do it while we eat. Where's my client this morning?"

"Audra is giving him a reading lesson in the library. Why don't you go on in while I help Silas get food on the table?"

Ted nodded and went on into the library, where he found Audra and Ollie sitting together on the sofa. Ollie was reading out loud – very slowly and deliberately – while Audra helped him hold the book and occasionally corrected him. Audra caught Ted's movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up. "Ollie! Your lawyer is here!"

"Hi, there, client," Ted said as he came closer. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm reading," Ollie said.

"And he's doing very well at it," Audra said.

"Did you come to ask questions again?" Ollie asked.

"No, not many," Ted said. "I just came to see you mainly because I like you."

Ollie smiled.

"When do you think this will be over and Ollie can go back to the orphanage?" Audra asked.

"Not today, maybe tomorrow," Ted said. "I'm sorry it's taking so long, Ollie, but you like it here with the Barkleys, don't you?"

"Yes," Ollie said. "I like playing with the other children, too."

"I'll bet they miss you very much," Audra said.

"Ollie," Ted said, "have you remembered anything more about your real family – their name, or where they lived?"

Ollie shook his head. "They don't live here."

"Well, never mind. We'll have plenty of time to talk about that after Mr. Mitchell goes away."

"Will he go away soon and forever?" Ollie asked.

"I sure am working on it," Ted said.

Ted stayed for lunch and did not ask many more questions. Then he told Victoria, Audra and Ollie that he would come back in the morning to let them know what was happening, if anything. He politely excused himself and left.

He didn't know he was being watched as he rode away. Mitchell and Mercer, mounted and waiting in a grove of trees a few hundred feet off the road leading to the stables, kept a close eye on Ted until he was out of sight. Once he was clearly gone, Mitchell and Mercer rode out of the grove and down into the stableyard.

Ciego met them there with a smile. "Good afternoon, senores – "

He got no further. Mercer, the only one carrying a gun, lifted it out of its holster and pointed it at the Mexican. Mercer kept his hat tilted down over his face. He did not want anyone to see his face if he could help it.

"Where's the tack room?" Mitchell asked.

Ciego pointed behind him.

"Go," Mercer said.

Looking confused and frightened, Ciego went to the tack room, and in a few moments he was locked inside. "Let's try that big front door," Mitchell said.

They went up to the door, and Mitchell lifted the knocker, loudly rapping. When the door opened Silas was there – and he was startled into silence when he saw Mercer's gun. "Inside," Mercer said quietly.

Silas moved into the foyer. Mercer closed the door as Mitchell said, "Where's the boy?"

Silas said nothing, too confused.

"The boy," Mitchell repeated. "Where is he?"

"Silas, who is at the – " Victoria came in from the dining room and stopped when she saw the two men.

The one holding the gun on her shook his head very slightly. Victoria wasn't sure why.

"I want my son," Mitchell said.

Victoria almost said that Ollie wasn't his son, but instead she said nothing, too worried she would say the wrong thing.

"Where's the boy?" Mitchell asked more forcefully. "Tell me now, or my friend starts shooting."

Victoria pointed toward the library.

Mitchell said to Mercer, "Keep them here. I'll get the boy." And he went into the library.

Victoria stared at Mercer, who lowered his gun slightly. Was it possible? Was he –

Mercer said, very quietly, "Play along with this and I'll explain later. The gun's not loaded. Nothing will happen to the boy."

Victoria just nodded. In only a few moments, Mitchell came back in, holding Audra tightly enough by the arm that he was hurting her. Ollie was clinging to her, and she was doing her best to stay between Mitchell and Ollie. Once they were in the foyer, Mitchell pulled Ollie away from Audra and pushed him toward Mercer. Mercer took hold of him and pulled him to stand behind him.

Mitchell headed to the door and opened it. "Try to stop us and the boy will pay for it," he said and went out.

Mercer followed him, dragging a screaming Ollie along with him. Once outside, Mercer took an envelope out of his inner coat pocket and gave it to Mitchell as they headed for the horses. Mitchell put the envelope into his pocket.

"No!" Ollie screamed and dug his heels in.

Mercer suddenly stopped and did not mount up. Mitchell looked confused – and then several men came out from behind the barn.

"Stop right there," a man in the lead, holding a gun, said.

Mercer holstered his gun while one of the newcomers pulled Mitchell around and put manacles on him. Mercer pulled Ollie to him and knelt to look at him. "Ollie, look at me. Everything is all right. No one is going to take you away."

Ollie was still crying, totally confused and terrified. As the man who had manacled Mitchell pulled him toward his horse, the man holding the gun holstered it and headed for the house. He opened the door to find Victoria and Audra there, holding rifles on him.

Agent Macklin was startled enough to stop dead at the door, but then he smiled. "Mrs. Barkley, Miss Barkley, I'm sorry to be darkening your door again, but you'll be happy about it if you'll put those rifles down and come on outside."

They did as they were told and went outside with Silas. It was then they got their first good look at Mercer and knew who he was.

"Jarrod!" Audra exclaimed and ran to hug him. Then, as Victoria came into his embrace, Audra bent down to calm Ollie. "Ollie, this is my brother Jarrod! He's been playing a trick on Mr. Mitchell!"

Ollie still cried, but Audra held him and rubbed his back. He began to calm down.

Macklin came back over to them. "We're going to take Mitchell into town. I can't believe he thought he could abduct Ollie like this, but I'm glad he gave it a try. We saw you pass the money to him, Jarrod. We have him cold."

"For selling children," Victoria said.

Jarrod nodded. "That's what Agent Macklin here has had me working on for the last few weeks. I wasn't in Washington. I was working with these agents on this ring of monsters who have been abducting and selling children."

"Please forgive me, Mrs. Barkley," Macklin said. "We had no idea you were involved until yesterday. We've been tailing Mitchell for a while and we nailed the man Ollie ran away from, but we weren't in time to find Ollie or link Mitchell to it. So we let Jarrod pose as a buyer, looking for a boy just like Ollie. Mitchell got hungry for the two hundred dollars this buyer was going to give him for a boy just like Ollie, and he got the law to track Ollie by claiming he was stolen. Your involvement was just happenstance. With Mitchell going unarmed and Jarrod using an unloaded gun, we didn't think there was any danger to you in finishing up this sting of ours."

Victoria looked at her oldest son as he held her in one arm. She touched the gray streaks in his beard. "I had to look twice before I even dreamed it was you standing here, Jarrod. Gray in your beard?"

"Sadly, it's natural, Mother," Jarrod said, stroking the gray. Then he looked down at Ollie, who was calming down in Audra's arms and looking up at him, still suspicious. Jarrod knelt in front of him. "Ollie, you'll be staying right here. Mr. Macklin and his other agents are going to take Mr. Mitchell to jail."

Ollie was completely calm now. He watched as they put Mitchell on his horse and another of the agents brought horses out from behind the barn.

"I need to let Ciego out of the tack room," Jarrod said and headed for it.

Macklin stayed with Victoria, Audra and Ollie. "I'm sorry we had to draft Jarrod into this. It was not his idea and he didn't come into it voluntarily, but he's been of great value to us. This child slavery ring has been stubborn and horrible to get to, but thanks to Jarrod's help, we're in there. A lot of people are going to go down for the harm they've done to a lot of families."

Audra hugged Ollie to her. "Ollie, you're going to like my brother Jarrod, I promise. And everything is going to be different from now on. We'll be able to go play with the orphans again soon and you can go back to the orphanage to live with them if you want."

Ollie managed a tiny smile. "I like the orphans. Can I be an orphan too?"

Audra laughed. "If that's what you want to be, then that's what you'll be."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Ollie stayed for two more days with the Barkleys, while Macklin got Mitchell and his sisters safely out of Stockton and off to face federal charges in San Francisco. Ted Wilson came back to celebrate Ollie's freedom at lunch on that second day. All of the Barkley sons were there to celebrate with them. For the first time since he came to them, Ollie had a laugh that was merry and genuine and unthreatened. It was music.

Jarrod still had not shaved, not certain he was finished with this project. He took a lot of ribbing about the gray in his beard, but he finally said, "You know, I think I'll keep it. Makes me look distinguished."

Heath leaned over to Ollie and said, "That's a fancy word for old."

Jarrod gave a scowl so obviously fake that Ollie laughed.

Ted did have some news that he brought up while Ollie and Audra went out to the garden. "Mitchell is talking, trying to cut a deal. This is a pretty big house of cards, and it's coming down."

"I wish we could find all of the kids affected and get them back with their real families," Jarrod said, "but that's going to be very tough. Ollie doesn't even remember his real name."

"I think Macklin expects you to help out with that chore, too," Ted said.

Jarrod nodded. "I'm sure he does, and I'm in for the duration, I'm afraid."

"You sound like you don't want to be," Victoria said.

"It's true, I didn't get into this willingly," Jarrod said. "I couldn't figure out why they didn't have the people to handle it, but they didn't have the money to hire internal personnel. Now that I'm in, I realize how terrible this has been for so many people, so many children. I am in til the end. I want to help as many of these innocents as I can."

Victoria gave him a kiss on the cheek. "The beard tickles," she said.

After eating, Audra took Ollie out into the garden, where she showed him a beautiful rose and let him smell how wonderful its scent was. Ollie was very quiet, very thoughtful while they were out there. Audra finally asked, "Is anything still bothering you, Ollie?"

Ollie shook his head, but said, "I want to go home."

Audra's heart broke. "Where is home, Ollie? Can you tell me the name of the town where you family lives?"

Ollie thought, but he shook his head again. "I don't know."

Audra pulled him to her. "Ollie, listen closely to me. We're all going to work very hard to find out where your real family is and to take you home there. In the meantime, you can live with the orphans and play with them and go to school with them. They really miss you, you know."

Ollie said, "That would be okay. But I'll miss you, Miss Audra."

"Oh, you won't miss me much. I go to the orphanage all the time to play with the children and help teach them their lessons. You'll be seeing me a lot."

Ollie grew quiet again and smelled the rose.

Audra pulled him close again. "Do you remember when we were on the train and it fell over? Do you remember how scared we were? And do you remember how it went away?"

Ollie nodded and smiled.

"All the bad things that have happened have gone away. You're safe now, and you have all kinds of friends who will be here for you whenever you need us."

"When will you take me back to the orphanage?"

"How about tomorrow? Is that all right? And I will come to see you almost every day, and you can play and learn with the other orphans all the time."

While they were talking, Nick and Heath came out into the garden. Ollie saw them and looked up.

"Well, well," Nick said. "Are you two going to spend the rest of the day outside?"

"We may," Audra said. "It's a very nice day."

"I reckon Nick and I are gonna have to get back to work," Heath said. "How about it, Ollie? You want to ride out on the horse with me again?"

Ollie brightened up right away, nodding happily.

"We'll take you to see all our horses this time," Nick said. "And we'll let you give them their names. How about that?"

"They don't have names?" Ollie asked.

"Some of them don't, not yet," Nick said. "I guess they're orphan horses."

Ollie looked at Audra and said, "Will I sleep here tonight?"

Audra nodded.

"And will there be flapjacks for breakfast?"

Audra laughed and hugged him. "There will be flapjacks for breakfast."

"And I'll tell you a bedtime story to help you get to sleep tonight," Nick said. "All about Prince Ollie and the orphan horses."

Ollie grinned. "I'd like that."

"All right, then," Heath said and scooped him up into his arms. "Let's go name the orphan horses."

As Nick and Heath took Ollie down toward the stable, Audra went back into the house and found Victoria, Jarrod and Ted watching and listening from the door. Audra stood with Jarrod and put her arm around him.

"He's quite a little guy, isn't he?" Jarrod said.

"He is that," Victoria said.

Ted said, "You know, I think my wife and I might spend some time at the orphanage, helping out here and there."

They all understood his meaning. Ollie had really gotten to him, too, and if they weren't able to find his real family, there might be a couple in Stockton who would want to adopt him.

"I'm just glad things have straightened out for him," Audra said, "and Jarrod, I hope and pray you'll be able to straighten things out for a lot of other children, too."

Jarrod kissed her on the forehead. "I'll do my best, little sister. That's a promise."

Epilogue

They never did find Ollie's real family, despite newspaper advertisements and every bit of tracking Jarrod, the Pinkertons and the federal agents could do. As it was, Jarrod was only able to find a small percentage of the children who had been sold. Most of them had just disappeared with the vermin who had bought them, which broke Jarrod's heart but he and the federal agents just ran out of ways to find them. It was the most bitter case of his entire career. But of the ones he did locate and get away from their "owners," Jarrod was able to find the families of almost all of them, and that eased his heartache somewhat. He was wise enough to know that sometimes you just had to accept the losses but rejoice in the wins.

Ted Wilson and his wife became volunteers at the orphanage, and before long, the childless couple had adopted four of the orphans, including Ollie. They built a happy and strong family together. Ollie grew up strong and wise beyond his years, and by the turn of the century, he was well on his way to becoming a lawyer, like his adopted father, eventually building his own practice and his own family.

Ollie married Faith Barkley, one of Victoria's grandchildren, and together they had seven children of their own – three girls – Faith, Victoria and Audra Wilson, and four boys – Oliver, Jarrod, Nick and Heath Wilson. Then, when two babies were left at the orphanage, they adopted them and named them for Ted and his wife Cara.

Ollie lived a long and happy life, and one day, as he passed his 60th birthday and watched his own grandchildren charge around the big yard behind his house just outside of Stockton, he thought back on all the things that had happened that led him here. They were horrible, but he was a child then and the pain of the memories had faded and left him alone. Still, he knew that if those horrible things had never happened, he would never have had this wonderful family, this beautiful home, and the wonderful Barkley and Wilson families who had taken him in as one of their own. He was so grateful for all of it that he could never put it into words. He could only hope that God understood.

Once upon a time, there was a Prince named Ollie and he had difficult adventures, but in the end, he watched his children and his grandchildren play, and he laughed along with them.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End


End file.
